14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency in Western Australia announced that it would not review the state's shark cull on the grounds that, all things considered, the initiative was unlikely to impact marine ecosystems to a considerable extent.
Some time after the Agency made this announcement, high officials in Western Australia went public with the news that they were considering having this initiative last for another three years, i.e. until 2017.
Shortly after this piece of news hit the public, the state's Environmental Protection Agency said that it had reconsidered its position, and that it would take the time to assess plans to have the cull last until 2017.
Truth be told, it appears that the fact that, since the shark cull began until present day, folks in Western Australia have submitted almost 10,000 comments on the initiative, most of which were against the program, has also had a say in the matter.
“In view of the increased duration of the proposal and the level of public interest, a public review of the proposal is warranted,” the state's Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement, as cited by The Guardian.
“Unlike this summer’s 13-and-a-half week drum-line program, the EPA will need to undertake a detailed assessment of the environmental impacts, including the cumulative impacts of implementing a 22-week program every year for three consecutive years,” added Paul Vogel, the Agency's chairman.
Should high officials in Western Australia have their way and be granted permission to have the shark cull last for another three years, as many as 72 drum lines are to be set in place in the waters off the state's most popular beaches annually, between November and April.
Whatever great white, bull, and tiger sharks get caught in these drum limes and are found to measure more than 3 meters (9.8 feet) in length are to be killed, and their bodies are to be thrown back into the water. This initiative is expected to make Western Australia's waters safer for swimming and surfing.
Although the state's high officials are fairly confident in the success of the shark cull in terms of reducing the risks people face while swimming or surfing, there are many who oppose the program and who argue that the drum lines are actually attracting sharks to the region and are, therefore, likely to up the number of attacks on swimmers and surfers.
“The drum lines aren’t protecting people at all, the bait is actually attracting more sharks towards beaches. There are so many alternatives to this policy. This has just been political hardheaded stubbornness by people who don’t understand what they are doing,” Gerry Waneck with green group Western Australians for Shark Conservation told the press in a recent interview.