Environmental issues stop tougher measures
The Barnett Government toyed with the idea of more drastic measures to safeguard swimmers, including shark nets and deploying drum lines permanently.
But it baulked at the options amid fears that any one of them would have made its plans to set drum lines off Perth and South West beaches environmentally unacceptable.
Moves by the Government to refer its drum-line plans to the environmental watchdog yesterday revealed for the first time how far it considered going to reduce shark attack risks.
In its public environmental review, released for public consultation by the Environmental Protection Authority, the Government lists the options it canvassed.
They included deploying drum lines throughout the year, setting more and using them across a bigger area of WA's coastline.
They also included setting shark nets similar to those used in NSW and Queensland, using smaller and cheaper hooks and targeting sharks bigger than 2m.
Other options considered were requiring those carrying out the policy to only check the drum lines "every other day and for fewer hours each day" and proposing it on an "ad infinitum" basis.
It ruled the measures out, saying they were likely to have a far more profound effect on the environment than those contained within the policy the Government eventually settled on.
Under that policy, drum lines would be set between November 15 and April 30 for the next three years to protect swimmers when beaches are most popular and reduce the risks of migrating whales becoming entangled in the lines.
Only 36 lines, or 72 in all, could be used in the two zones. The policy also stipulates that only great white, tiger and bull sharks bigger than 3m are to be killed, and they are only to be targeted in "extremely small" areas off Perth and the South West.
And the policy mandates the use of bigger hooks to minimise the chances of smaller sharks and by-catch being captured on them.
"It is considered that, while not directly quantifiable, implementing even just one of the above mentioned considerations would lead to a significant increase in adverse environmental impacts on target and non-target species," the documents noted.
