Aussie surfers should pay for shark protection says marine biologist

Surfers should pay to protect themselves from shark attacks off Australian beaches instead of authorities coming up with plans to attack sharks, a marine biologist suggested at a meeting to probe into the effect the current “plague of shark attacks” was having on New South Wales north coast.

Great White Shark attacks are seriously threatening the surfing industry on Australia’s NSW north coast Image by Lwp Kommunikáció / CC BY 2.0

The Governmental probe was held close to where a surfer nearly died after being attacked by a bull shark less than three weeks ago in Ballina.

Marine biologist Daniel Burcher said surfers should protect themselves by purchasing shark repellent devices. This was better than communities installing anti-shark measures along entire beaches, he said.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the professor stated the onus and expense should be put on the people who go into the water and take the risk of an attack. He believed this method could prove  more cost efficient than isolating beaches.

Surfer Brody Aleckson described as “a bit one-sided” the suggestion that surfers should pay for their own safety. He said that when a great white lined up a surfer from 20-metres, a shark shield was no good.

However, on the commercial side, one campsite owner said that the adverse publicity around the attacks had reduced his booking by over half.

A man from the shark action group, Ben Kirby, said surfers were choosing to take their families further up the Gold Coast for surfing.

Wayne Webster, who makes surf-boards said that every attack sees his shop deserted for a month afterwards.

Elton Cummings, a Surf Life Saving veteran, said texts alerts of shark sightings had jumped to 60 a month instead of the normal 60 a year.

Virtually all the stakeholders called for immediate action .