WA shark cull: Undersized animals killed during trial prompts call for policy to be scrapped

A conservation group says Western Australia's shark catch-and-kill policy should not receive federal approval because at least 18 undersized animals died during a trial.

Drum lines were set off five Perth beaches and another two in the South West following a spate of fatal shark attacks in the state, attributed mostly to great whites.

The trial program ran for about three months and the State Government, which hailed it a success, is pushing for an extension for the next three summers.

Figures released by the Fisheries Minister this week showed of the 172 sharks caught, 50 tiger sharks larger than three metres were destroyed .

No great whites were caught under the program and eight other animals were captured, including stingrays.

Department of Fisheries data showed 18 undersized sharks died as a result of being caught on the drum lines-- including four mako sharks.

Western Australians for Shark Conservation said this should result in the end of the policy.

Founder Ross Weir said many smaller sharks which were released from the hooks alive, probably also died.

"It's highly likely a large percentage - maybe over 50 per cent of those sharks - died," he said.

"When these smaller sharks are caught on these devices, the shark will roll and entangle itself in the chain, they then begin to suffocate because as many people know, sharks must pass water over their gills in order to breathe.

"So the longer these sharks have been left on these drum lines, the lower the likelihood of survival."

Cost of shark cull not detailed in budget

Mr Weir also said the strategy had probably cost several million dollars.

"Drum lines on their own cost the Government around about $1 million and then they've got to drop them in the water obviously, and monitor them, fuel their vessels, pay their staff," he said.

" I would expect it to be a highly expensive operation."

But there was no detail in Thursday's state budget about the cost of the recent shark baiting program.

A contractor was paid more than $600,000 to monitor drum lines in the South West, and sources in the fishing industry have suggested the cost associated with Perth's beaches was more than $1 million.

Fisheries Minister Ken Baston said this week the program had restored the confidence of beachgoers.

"I think the strategy's gone very well, bearing in mind that it's a very broad strategy, and that's basically to protect those people that swim in those popular areas," he said.

"No great whites were caught, and the reasons I've been told is because that great white season is later, but we were actually only after the three species of shark that are deemed dangerous to humans.

"If any of that type of shark was in the boundaries of one kilometre, where the drum lines were, then they took the bait and got caught."

The drum line strategy targeted large tiger sharks, bull sharks and great whites.

The WA Environmental Protection Authority is assessing the policy but Federal Minister Greg Hunt will make the final decision as to whether it continues for the next three years.