Shark Mitigation and Deterrent Measures
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The Senate Environment and Communications References Committee Shark mitigation and deterrent measures December 2017 © Commonwealth of Australia 2017 ISBN 978-1-76010-681-2 Committee contact details PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Tel: 02 6277 3526 Fax: 02 6277 5818 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.aph.gov.au/senate_ec This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/. This document was printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra Committee membership Committee members Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Chair from 7 February 2017 AG, Tasmania to 4 September 2017 and from 14 September 2017 Senator Jonathon Duniam, Deputy Chair from LP, Tasmania 7 September 2017 Senator Linda Reynolds CSC, Deputy Chair from LP, Western Australia 16 February 2017 to 7 September 2017 Senator Anthony Chisholm ALP, Queensland Senator Sam Dastyari ALP, New South Wales Senator Anne Urquhart ALP, Tasmania Former members Senator Janet Rice from 4 to 7 September 2017 AG, Victoria Senator Larissa Waters, Chair to 7 February 2017 AG, Queensland Senator David Bushby, Deputy Chair to LP, Tasmania 5 December 2016 Senator James Paterson, Deputy Chair from LP, Victoria 5 December 2016 to 15 February 2017 Participating members for this inquiry Senator Sue Lines ALP, Western Australia Senator the Hon Ian Macdonald LP, Queensland Senator Lee Rhiannon AG, New South Wales Senator Rachel Siewert AG, Tasmania Senator John Williams NATS, New South Wales Committee secretariat Ms Christine McDonald, Committee Secretary Mr Colby Hannan, Principal Research Officer Ms Fattimah Imtoual, Senior Research Officer Mr Michael Perks, Research Officer Ms Georgia Fletcher, Administration Officer Ms Michelle Macarthur-King, Administration Officer iii Table of contents Committee membership ................................................................................... iii Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... ix List of recommendations ................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Referral ................................................................................................................... 1 Conduct of the inquiry ............................................................................................ 2 Structure of the report ............................................................................................. 3 Shark numbers, species, behaviour and habitat ...................................................... 4 Conservation ......................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2: Human–shark interactions ........................................................... 19 Data on the incidence and frequency of shark encounters ................................... 20 Public awareness and fear of sharks ..................................................................... 27 Impacts of incidents and fatalities on tourism and related industries .................. 36 Anecdotal evidence regarding activities that may increase the risk of dangerous human–shark interactions ................................................................... 44 Chapter 3: Responses to shark bite incidents ................................................ 49 Non-lethal responses ............................................................................................ 49 Lethal measures .................................................................................................... 57 Chapter 4: Evidence received about the need for, and effectiveness of, lethal shark control programs ......................................................................... 69 Role of government .............................................................................................. 69 Arguments for maintaining lethal programs ........................................................ 77 Arguments questioning the effectiveness of, or in opposition to, lethal programs ............................................................................................................... 80 v Chapter 5: Regulation of mitigation and deterrent measures under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 ............ 97 Relevance of the EPBC Act in relation to sharks in Australian waters ............... 97 Overview of the EPBC Act referral, assessment and approval process ............... 99 Interaction between the EPBC Act and existing shark control programs .......... 100 Exemptions in the national interest .................................................................... 110 Chapter 6: New and emerging mitigation and deterrent measures ........... 121 Overview of new and emerging technologies .................................................... 121 SMART drum lines ............................................................................................ 122 Advances in aerial surveillance .......................................................................... 125 Information collected from tagging programs and sightings ............................. 128 Sonar technology ................................................................................................ 133 Beach enclosures and eco-barriers ..................................................................... 135 Personal and 'whole of beach' deterrent and protection products....................... 139 Chapter 7: Other approaches ........................................................................ 149 Shark spotting programs ..................................................................................... 149 Medical kits ........................................................................................................ 151 Education ............................................................................................................ 153 Are new technologies and other approaches ready to replace lethal measures?............................................................................................................ 157 Chapter 8: Committee view and recommendations .................................... 163 Future of lethal shark control measures ............................................................. 166 Building knowledge about sharks and shark management strategies ................ 167 Supporting the transition to non-lethal mitigation and deterrent measures ....... 171 National cooperation and coordination .............................................................. 174 Other practical actions ........................................................................................ 175 Application of the EPBC Act ............................................................................. 177 Role of the media ................................................................................................ 179 vi Australian Greens' additional comments ..................................................... 181 Coalition Senators' additional comments ..................................................... 183 Labor Senators' dissenting report ................................................................. 187 Additional comments from Senator Williams .............................................. 189 Appendix 1: Submissions, tabled documents, answers to questions on notice and additional information ................................................................. 191 Appendix 2: Public hearings .......................................................................... 197 Appendix 3: Popular shark myths, misconceptions and factoids .............. 203 vii viii Abbreviations AIASA Abalone Industry Association of South Australia AIMS Australian Institute of Marine Science ALC NSW Young Lawyers Animal Law Committee AMCS Australian Marine Conservation Society Bonn Convention Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation DoEE Department of the Environment and Energy DPI New South Wales Department of Primary Industries EPA Environmental Protection Authority (Western Australia) EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FRDC Fisheries Research and Development Corporation HSI Humane Society International IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare IPOA–Sharks United Nations International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature R&D Research and development SCEC Sunshine Coast Environment Council Shark-plan 2 National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks 2012 ix SLSC Surf lifesaving club SMART Shark Management Alert in Real Time SMP Shark meshing program TCSA Taronga Conservation Society Australia TSSC Threatened Species Scientific Committee UAV Unmanned aerial vehicle x List of recommendations Recommendation 1 8.19 The committee recommends that the New South Wales and Queensland Governments: • immediately replace lethal drum