Shark patrols skip beaches
The Department of Fisheries has boosted its shark incident response capacity in the South-West with vessels now stationed in Bunbury, Busselton and Margaret River, but most beaches in the Harvey and Waroona shires are not well covered.
Fisheries Minister Ken Baston said locating boats in Bunbury, Busselton and Margaret River would mean that in the case of a threat on the water, and in particular a shark threat, fisheries officers would be able to respond quickly.
“This increased on-water response capacity will complement the State Government’s investment in a range of measures to protect swimmers and to help inform people about their water use,” Mr Baston said.
The State Government recently announced that it would provide Surf Life Saving WA with $650,000 to extend aerial patrols over the South West to cover the school holidays, weekends and public holidays, before daily patrols start from November 24.
Premier Colin Barnett said the State Government’s shark hazard mitigation program was worth about $23 million.
“Ultimately people need to take responsibility for themselves and make responsible decisions about their water use, be it in relation to surf conditions or shark sightings, ” Mr Barnett said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Fisheries told the Reporter last week that the department did not patrol beaches for the safety of beach goers as a matter of course.
“Safety of beach users is the responsibility of land managers, the Department of Parks and Wildlife, local governments and Surf Life Saving WA, ” she said.
“The department has fisheries and marine officers based in Bunbury that would provide a response to a shark incident/sighting at those locations by either sea or land patrols, as soon as possible.
“There are also officers based in Mandurah and a vessel and trailer in Bunbury available to respond to an incident.”
