Surfers concerned shark risk destroying Mandurah lifestyle

Matt Wilson, who had been surfing off Falcon beaches for more than 30 years, said his children were getting ready to join Ben Gerring – a family friend – in the surf when he was fatally attacked in May.

“They were about to go into the water, they saw Ben prior to the attack and spoke to him and his good friend Zach,” he said.

“My wife had just taken the kids back home to get their wetsuits on, luckily they were taking their time and as they came back down they were taking Ben out of the water.”

He said his wife was still too concerned to let him and his children go into the water at the same spot.

“My wife follows the shark sightings and if there's a sighting anywhere she won't let us near the water and that's happening with everyone,” he said.

Mr Wilson said he was worried the risk of sharks was destroying Mandurah’s lifestyle and the relationship of the community with the ocean.

“There are two mums I know, whose kids surf with mine competitively, their immediate response is – when's this gonna stop?” he said.

“It's significantly affecting people's psyche without a doubt, because it just seems relentless and no one knows when it's going to stop.

“Mentally, people are just getting torn up about it.”

The local skate park was full of kids most evenings because parents weren’t letting their kids near the beach, Mr Wilson said.

“You talk to the kids and they say they're not allowed to go down the beach on my own, or mum's scared, all this sort of stuff,” he said.

“There was sighting a couple of weeks back at Pyramids and the skate park was so crowded it was ridiculous.”

Mr Wilson said it was time to reconsider the protected status of white sharks.

“Like most people in WA and most surfers, we're not out to cull the population, it's just about having a managed fishery, where the shark can maintain its population and we can change the risk profile of attacks from two a year back out to one every 20 years,” he said.

”I'm not saying I know everything, because I'm not an environmental scientist, but the zones we're talking about can be very specific.”

He said he worried about the effect the attacks would have on the tourism industry in Mandurah and across WA and drew parallels to attacks in Réunion Island, which destroyed the small French territory’s economy.

“People are going to start not coming here because of it,” he said.

“I’m not saying we have to kill everything to make sure tourism works, but like with mining – we're a big mining state – we can work hand-in-hand with environmentalists and get good outcomes every time and that's what we should be aiming for.”

But the fisheries department said there would always be some risk of attack, no matter what mitigation measures were put into place.

“The safety of people is our top priority and the extensive suite of strategies in place is helping to keep more people safe,” fisheries regional executive director Bruno Mezzatesta said.

“Although the risks are low, the current shark hazard mitigation measures in place offer water users greater protection in certain areas through enclosures and additional surveillance and the communication and alert systems help water users make informed decisions about their water use.

“The reality is that there is no single measure, or suite of measures which provides a guarantee against a shark attack, but the range of strategies in place here in WA have minimised the risk to ocean users.”

Mr Mezzatesta said the fisheries department was researching the impacts on the south west population of white sharks from changes to fisheries management, including commercial shark fishing within WA.

He said since 2008 the government has spent more than $30 million on shark hazard mitigation measures, including aerial and beach patrols over metropolitan and South West waters, research into shark population estimates and shark behaviour, acoustic tagging, jet skis, watchtowers, research into non-lethal detection and deterrent technologies, beach enclosures, and a public education campaign.

“Initiatives such as Surf Life Saving WA (SLSWA) aerial and beach patrols, and the sightings element of the notification system are available in the Mandurah area, and the research we have undertaken, is relevant state-wide,” he said.

But Mr Wilson said he was worried about where the measures would end if white shark numbers were reduced.

“The next thing they'll do is ban going in the water for the two months of winter,” he said.

“And that's no good for anyone – it affects tourism, it affects our lifestyle and it affects people's mental health, especially for us who've grown up on these beaches.”

To report shark activity call water police on 9442 8600 or go to sharksmart.com.au/shark-activity.