A BUNBURY business owner whose livelihood is suffering because of sharks said pictures of the first shark killed on a drum line made him feel “ashamed to be an Australian.”
Coastal Water Dive owner Torry Goodall said widespread media coverage of shark attacks off the WA coast in recent years had been bad for business.
But he was appalled to see a tiger shark caught on a baited drum line and shot four times off Meelup Beach on Sunday.
“My business solely runs on the willingness of humans to swim in and under the sea and lately business has been bad,” Mr Goodall said.
“But you know what, I do not want my money and way of life to be justified or subsidised on an ocean of blood.
“Why should innocent, amazing, necessary living beings be slaughtered so our Aussie way of life can prosper?”
WA Premier Colin Barnett said he was pleased to see the state government’s controversial catch-and-kill order policy begin.
Mr Barnett said he got no pleasure out of seeing sharks killed and it was necessary to fulfil his “overriding responsibility” to protect West Australians.
“It's underway and I'm pleased with that, hopefully it will prove successful and that we can reduce the risk to beachgoers.”
Under the new WA policy, great white sharks, tiger sharks and bull sharks larger than three metres would be shot. Smaller sharks and any other marine life would be released.
Shark cull activists have reportedly removed bait from South West drumlines after the first shark was killed.
To read more from Mr Goodall, click here.
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