Surveys show the public has lost its appetite for shark culls

A Senate committee has recommended an end to sharks culls and nets. According to surveys, the public is on board with the idea of ending policies that are lethal to sharks, write Drs Chris Pepin-Neff and Thomas Wynter. A  Senate Committee report on shark deterrent measures  has, in the words of committee member  Senator Peter Whish-Wilson , moved the "shark cull debate into the 21st century". The first recommendation of the inquiry is to "immediately replace lethal drum lines" with so-called SMART drum lines and to phase out shark nets. Yet if the news media are to be believed, these conclusions go against the grain of public opinion, with Western Australia's spate of shark incidents having spawned previous headlines such as " Calls grow louder for shark culling in WA ". More recently, a series of incidents in Ballina in northern New South Wales prompted our surfing former prime minister Tony Abbott to weigh in,  calling on the state government to authorise culls and nets. The question of how much the public really supports policies that kill sharks has been surprisingly difficult to answer.