[Ed] Western Australia Shark Cull - I Am Disgusted

Quote:

WA shark cull: Thousands rally at Cottesloe Beach as catch-and-kill protests ramp up An estimated 6,000 people gathered at Perth's Cottesloe Beach today amid nationwide protests against Western Australia's catch-and-kill shark policy. ABC reporter Jade Macmillan was at Perth's Cottesloe Beach: Overwhelmingly the people here are opposed to the cull. They say they're angry at the way the Government has brought it in. It also comes at a time when the first drum lines to be set off metropolitan beaches were set yesterday. Within hours two undersized tiger sharks were caught and set free. This morning though when fisheries officers went out they pulled up an undersized shark that was already dead. They've then had to dump that further out at sea, so the people here and conservationists in general are outraged. They say it makes a mockery of the Government's line that it would only be sharks 3 metres and above that would be killed. At this stage the State Government is standing very firm. Premier Colin Barnett has defended this policy at every step of the way. He's insistent that this policy will run through until April and then run again next summer. There are questions surrounding that because the Federal Environment Minister has said that any extension of this program would need to undergo a full assessment under federal environmental law. There are questions as to how long that might take and if it would be ready in time for next summer, but at this stage the State Government is standing firm and insists that it will go ahead again. The protests came after the second shark killed under the policy was pulled from a baited drum line off Leighton Beach this morning.

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Sharks simply move around in their own environment and mind their own business. If something edible comes into their field of vision, they will eat it, if they are hungry. Why this gives any Government the right to slaughter sharks for being what they are blows my mind.



I made a deal with them years ago. I will leave them alone if they stay out of my flat. They do not invade my territory and I will not invade theirs. The idea that we need to randomly kill sharks to protect people who want to swim or surf in shark infested areas strikes me as so arrogant that I really do not know what to say.



Sometimes I just get disgusted at some of the things that people do. But I am proud that so many people all over Australia protested this utterly stupid WA Government reaction to somebody being killed by a shark.



Norm

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