A VIDEO of a KZN Sharks Board van piled with the carcasses of dolphins and sharks while travelling along the N2, has raised the hackles of marine lovers in its wake.
After the video went viral on Facebook since its recording on Wednesday, 10 October, animal lovers have taken aim at shark nets as the culprits that claim marine casualties and said more environmentally-friendly preventive measures need to be sought to keep sharks at bay.
The video recorded by marine-life lover Shane Pike showed the van and its trailer, with a dolphin tail flapping under a canvas sail. The dolphin and sharks had sustained serious rope wounds. The video was posted on the Salt Fishing South Africa Facebook page.
Watch the video:
The marine-loving community, who commented that too many animals have lost their lives to the nets, questioned whether there weren’t less harmful ways to deter sharks from bathing beaches.
Asked about the video footage, the KZN Sharks Board released a statement explaining the board routinely stores ‘incidentally caught’ sharks and dolphins to make them available for use by research institutions around the country.
On the day in question, the carcasses were being moved from the Margate base station to the Sharks Boards’ facilities in Umhlanga.
Much-loved tourist destinations around the world provide spectacular beach experiences for visitors without the use of shark nets, which cause harm and death to marine creatures annually.
KZN Sharks Board’s Mike Anderson-Reid explained are alternative methods are being used in other parts of KZN.
“Drum lines (whereby a drum with a baited hook is floating out at sea at the same distance as the shark nets do) have proved an efficient alternative to sharknets as they’ve reduced bycatch by 47%. This method is used extensively in Australia,” he explained.
“The only problem is these drumlines don’t catch bullsharks, which prove a danger in our KZN waters, so the board has found it works best to remove two of three staggered nets and replace them with drumlines, and leave one net in for bullsharks. This mixed-gear method is most effective.”
Reid said suggestions put forward to use shark spotters, who could alert bathers to retreat from the water when a predator is spotted, would not be feasible.
“Shark spotters wouldn’t work in our KZN waters, as we have many rivers that flow out to sea, making our water far from clear enough to spot a shark. Secondly, in the Cape they have high seaside mountains on which shark spotters perch and watch out for shark activity in the water. In KZN we don’t have these heights so close to the sea.”
Shark repellent cables wouldn’t work as effectively in local waters as they are the best deterrent for white sharks, which are more of a threat in the Cape than in KZN. Reid explained that the matter is extremely complex, as the board must negotiate with municipalities before any change can take place in waters they oversee.
“We’ve installed drumlines in Nkonyeni Municipality 13 years ago, we’ve installed mixed gear in Richards Bay and in KwaDukuza Municipality in October 2015,” he said. “We’ve begun negotiating with eThekwini Municipality about changing up the shark nets but it is a tedious and drawn-out process. We’ve spoken and written but really can’t say when any change will take place.”
Many ocean activists insist shark nets should be removed from all waters completely.
Dr Sean Fennessy, South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) assistant director and senior scientist, Ocean Research Institute commented on the matter of nets.
“Permanent removal of shark nets from beaches which have traditionally had them has caused much debate. The Sharks Board has reduced numbers of nets at some beaches, replacing them with other shark catching gear, particularly drum lines.
Removal of nets reduces catches of sharks and harmless animals but shark nets are not the only cause of their mortality, so removal of nets would not necessarily mean a recovery in populations of these organisms.
The nets reduce the risk of shark attack on humans; assessing that risk accurately is extremely difficult, so decision-makers are often unwilling to run the risk of the often-wildly emotional response to an attack, and the negative publicity it can generate,” he said.
Northglen News shared the following shark facts
• Most sharks only give birth every two to three years.
• Their gestation period, which can last 12 months, takes a harsh toll on the body. After giving birth the female shark needs time to replenish her energy reserves before she can fall pregnant again.
• While some shark breeds, like the tiger shark, give birth to between 30 and 40 pups, other breeds, like the ragged-toot shark, litter only one or two pups at a time.
• The great white is a protected species. SA was the first country to ban the culling of the great white in 1991.
• Sharks are an evolutionary primitive species, as they have remained unchanged for 400 million years.
• Most sharks are nomadic, as they do not permanently stay in a specific location.
Sharks have several rows of teeth, and shed the front row as they become worn.
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