Saturday, October 29, 2005
Spinning a line on sharks
http://statements.cabinet.qld.gov.au/cgi-bin/display-statement.pl?id=9205&db=media

Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries Gordon Nuttall said today that "the total number of sharks caught in shark nets and drumlines off 87 beaches [in Queensland] increased by 20 per cent to 630 last financial year."

There have been some absolute monsters snared, including:

• 5.2m Tiger and 4m Dusky Whaler off Rainbow Beach
• 4.7m Tiger off Mackay
• 4.6m Tiger off North Stradbroke Island
• 3.8m Tiger off Bribie Island

Queensland has been netting beaches since 1962. In that time there has not been a single fatal attack on a protected beach.

Also, since 1992, 27 Humpback Whale have become entangled and just 4 of these have died. Queensland has a dedicated ‘marine mammal hotline’ and several dedicated teams to free trapped mammals.

But whether you agree with netting beaches to protect humans from being eaten or not (and there is strong arguments for doing so, hell, I’ve swam off Mackay, Bribie and North Stradbroke) there is something insidious in using of political terminology that describes such killing as "ecologically responsible".

In the press release Gordon Nuttall went on to say "the Shark Safety Program methods are currently the world's best practice and the most ecologically responsible, providing the best swimmer protection for the least incidental bycatch of non-target species."

Killing 630 sharks (about 25,000 since 1962) is not ecologically responsible. Political spin cannot hide the fact that this is not a "win-win situation"; that most favoured by politicians.

It is a straightforward zero-sum game: sharks or people. Simple as that.

So something a little more humble and much, much less spin, is surely more appropriate.

"630 sharks have been killed off Queensland’s beaches in an ongoing operation to protect human life."

"The Queensland government regrets that this is cost of protecting recreational swimmers, but it firmly believes that its is price worth paying from human safety."

"A significant number of potential dangerous animals have been trapped and disposed off."

Etc…etc…

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