Is the shark population increasing or decreasing ?
Submitted by Indiana on Mon, 2010-05-31 14:52
Is the shark population decreasing as the boffins would have us believe ........or are they on the increase ?
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southcity104
Posts: 1659
Date Joined: 27/01/09
Probly increasing in loacal waters
but decreasing in international.
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Paul G
Posts: 5215
Date Joined: 12/12/07
Lot more small sharks around
Lot more small sharks around ,on the rise for sure .inshore waters plenty of whalers and hammerheads.which is a good thing imo...
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brenz
Posts: 2182
Date Joined: 15/06/06
on the incline in a massive
on the incline in a massive way . some nights at snapper grounds you dont even stand a chance anymore . even the beaches they are a pest
NOHA
Posts: 914
Date Joined: 24/06/07
Increasing
More sharks local and up North. The ones up North used to be more in the 6/7 foot range but now there 8/10 and more of them. Thats what I have noticed over the last 5 years anyway.
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NOHA
Posts: 914
Date Joined: 24/06/07
Increasing
More sharks local and up North. The ones up North used to be more in the 6/7 foot range but now there 8/10 and more of them. Thats what I have noticed over the last 5 years anyway.
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Faulkner Family
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Date Joined: 11/03/08
after talking to people a
after talking to people a couple of years ago they had noticed a large increase of sharks over the 20 years they had been fishing professionally . Same thing is happening up in shark bay according to the skipper of a charter boat that has been operating for a number of years
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Cam
Posts: 143
Date Joined: 30/08/05
I doubt there would be a
I doubt there would be a dramatic increase. There is no reason, change or climatic conditions to suggest so. However they have more than likely become accustomed to an easy feed associated with boat noise. Tuna and Sambos have learnt the same with trawlers etc. The University of Florida have been doing studies on Shark and Dugong populations etc in Shark Bay for 19 years and I would suggest they might have a better idea than average for that area at least. Will ask them.
Indiana
Posts: 307
Date Joined: 15/12/09
Increasing
Yes , I believe the shark populations to be on the increase .
Maybe as they evolve they are moving closer to the coastal regions look for a free feed from fishermen /trawlers etc .
The whites worry me a bit ! When the reseachers start dropping sonar buoys 100 meters off shore along the Perth beaches to monitor their movements ............their too dammed close for me .
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Cam
Posts: 143
Date Joined: 30/08/05
They've always been there.
They've always been there. Just in the news alot more for lack of stories. And as far as an increase in a place such as SHARKS BAY well the name kinda gives it away. Diving there is fun, every bloody type of Shark you can imagine. They leave you alone most of the time. But like you said Indiana not a fan of the White. At least Tigers will give you a nudge before they want a bite.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8708
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Increase of numbers
The shark population is definitely on the increase both down south and up north. The shark fishery [pro] north of Exmouth has been closed for the last 4 years due to the almost collapse of numbers of sand bar whalers [thickskins].When I was fishing there we would be welcomed with open arms in Exmouth because it meant that there was going to be a big reduction in numbers, some even begged us to try in the areas south of NW Cape [closed waters] right down to Steep Point.
In southern waters they are not allowed to bring in the bigger sharks and with the new closed area from Rockingham to Lancelin means there is no demersal netting for them so numbers must rise.Together with this is the ban on cray boats bringing in line caught fish prevents them from hanging hooks off their floats as well.
Cam
Posts: 143
Date Joined: 30/08/05
What species were commercially targeted?
Just wondering what species exactly were targeted by pro fishermen, what depth and location and what Sharks are supposed to on the increase? You may be correct but I've yet to see anything that suggests it other than people using ambiguous term such as "up north and down south" "seen heaps". Lets not forget the popular thought for many years was the world is "Definately flat". Are the Sharks just being focussed on more with helicopters and buoy technologies not previously used. Maybe they are just learning like dolphins etc where an easy feed is. Please someone enlighten us with some hard facts.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8708
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Locations
The down south location refers to south from Geraldton to Augusta and species targetted were bronze whaler, sand bar whalers, gummies, whiskeries and wobbigongs.
Up north we fished from Exmouth nearly through to Broome, north covering all the Monties and Glomar shoals and passed Bedout island chasing all sharks including all hammer heads sand bar whalers, tigers, dusky whalers, pig eyes, black tips and bronzies.
Don't know anywhere you get the helecopter and buoy technology being used except as protection for swimmers on metro beaches
Cam
Posts: 143
Date Joined: 30/08/05
Chopper and buoys
Chopper and buoys refers to what is being used now and not previously to highlight Shark populations close to shore. The attention that these are given is same every year when media run out of other stories or politicians need something to detract from unwanted attention they are getting. As for down south and up north, are you suggesting the from Augusta to Broome has a dramatic increase of all species of shark? What types of Sharks is everyone talking about?
carnarvonite
Posts: 8708
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Knowledge
To my knowledge there hasn't been any deliberate shark fishing allowed from Steep point through to NW cape for around forty years so you are always going to run into them.
Our licence for the northern areas ran from longtitude 114 through to 120 as the eastern limit. There were other licence running covering all of this and and to the WA/NT border. As stated before, all these licences were stopped preventing any professional shark fishing from Exmouth right to the WA/NT border about 4 years back, how long this ban will stay is up to the data Rory McCauley at Fisheries Shark Research collects, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting, it could be many years.
The area where I fished down south was from Bunbury right round to Windy harbour. That is only a fraction in comparison to the southern shark fishery from Eucla on the SA/WA border through to Windy harbour and the west coast one from Lancelin to Steep point.
sea-kem
Posts: 15259
Date Joined: 30/11/09
You're right ,It's all
You're right ,It's all speculation. For me personally though I've caught more in the last two years than my entire boating life (bout 20 yrs) and i reckon it's linked to the commercial closure.
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saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
Great White Sharks are
Great White Sharks are large, rare, warm-blooded apex marine predators. It is estimated that they mature at 12-18 years for females and 8-10 years for males. Maximum length is 6.4 metres, though specimens of up to 7 metres may exist. Great White Sharks reproduce only one every two to three years and produce between two and ten pups per litter.
What year was the Great White protected by a complete ban on capture of the species in "Australia"?
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sarcasm0
Posts: 1396
Date Joined: 25/06/09
1997 in South Australia
And all other State and Commonwealth Waters.
Cam
Posts: 143
Date Joined: 30/08/05
Thanks !
Thanks for the details Carnarvonite. If the research is anything like the Sharks Bay Snapper or Westralian Dhufish research, one may summise that sampling in the wrong areas by people with no knowledge of how to catch them there are no Sharks left, or is the correct term sea kittens?
Indiana
Posts: 307
Date Joined: 15/12/09
Numbers
Thanks Carnarvonite , nice to hear from someone with 1st hand knowledge of the industry ......or what it was .
Can I get your opinion on this ?
What impact is the whaling ban having on the numbers of white sharks ?
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saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
1997 in South Australia And
1997 in South Australia
And all other State and Commonwealth Waters.
13 years - 65% decrease before that period?
So thats a potential 100 and something percent potential increase in the population in those waters without a top end predator?
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
Daisy
Posts: 789
Date Joined: 24/01/08
Personally I reckon shark
Personally I reckon shark populations are still on the decline but as fisherman we are seeing concentrations of them as fish stocks are depleted. The Noahs are learning where they can get an easy feed (or a feed at all) in areas where we fish, Although some sharks are oceanic the species we mainly encounter (Bull Sharks, Black/Spinning Whalers, Hammers etc) generally inhabit the more coastal waters (50 nms) that we like to angle in and like to eat us out of the boat. Just my opinion and theory and if I'm wrong the increase in Sharks and decrease in thier prey will be catastrophic.
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