Western Australia called on the federal government yesterday to lift a ban on the fishing of great white sharks following an unprecedented fifth death in its waters within less than a year.
Speaking after a 24 year old surfer, Ben Linden, was bitten in half by a “massive” shark on Saturday, the state’s Fisheries Minister, Norman Moore, said the spate of fatal attacks was “cause for great alarm”. He added that he was “open to any suggestions from anybody as to where we go to now, because we seriously have got a problem”.
The killing of Mr Linden, who was paddling his board near remote Wedge Island, 100 miles north of Perth, has cemented the west coast’s reputation as the world’s deadliest shark attack zone. A hunt for the fish that killed him, believed to be up to 16 feet long, was called off yesterday afternoon. Ministers had ordered any shark of that size to be killed on sight.
