CITY PLAYS ON FEAR TO JUSTIFY SHARK BARRIER

COMMENT: A SWIMMER is bitten by a 1.5m tiger shark at Sandtrax Surfing Spot at Port Beach last Wednesday. Days earlier, a surfer is bumped off his board 40m from the shore at Secret Harbour Beach.
In January, Cottesloe Beach was closed after a 1.5m bronze whaler breached the shark barrier net. In February, a shark warning was issued for Blackwall Reach after a paddler was knocked off their board. A shark barrier was installed at Bicton Baths in 2023 after teenager Stella Berry was killed by a bull shark.
In January 2021, swimmer Cameron Wrathall was bitten on the thigh by a suspected bull shark at Blackwall Reach. And in November that year, swimmer Paul Millachip was killed by two sharks at Port Beach. His body was never found.
The State Government has funded shark barriers at Cottesloe, Quinns Beach, Busselton foreshore, Old Dunsborough Beach, Middelton Beach, Albany, and James Street Beach, Esperance (where surfer Steven Payne, 37, was taken by a shark at Wharton Beach two weeks before the Port Beach attack).
The Coogee Beach enclosure is funded by Cockburn.
And then there is Bathers Beach, not Port or South beaches which have recorded shark attacks, where the Government has committed $500,000 on a 340m long barrier stretched between existing breakwaters to create a 60,000 square metre swimming and snorkelling area. Why? They can do this anyway without fear of a shark trying to navigate the platform reef.
The City of Fremantle has committed $1 million towards maintenance of the barrier over the next decade and $200,000 towards the capital cost to enclose 6ha where no shark has ever been recorded having bumped, bitten or killed a swimmer. So why Bathers Beach when Port Beach could sure use one right now? Simple. Connection. Activation of a disused beach site between Fishing Boat Harbour and Victoria Quay, the 300m seaweed-laden sand strip and surrounding dune vegetation currently occupied by makeshift residences, tents, pets and associated rubbish.
Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge has said locals were too traumatised to swim in open waters following the deaths of Stella Berry and Paul Millachip. Yet Bathers Beach is not exposed to open waters. Port Beach and South Beach are. In fact, most people surveyed by council showed the community’s preference was popular South Beach.
“I have had so many people come up to me and tell me that they, or somebody that they know, simply will not swim in the ocean or the river for fear of sharks,” she said.
The Government says the enclosure will offer a protected swimming area with a physical barrier to reduce the risk of a shark encounter. What risk?
Fremantle MLA Simone McGurk said the enclosure will make Fremantle’s beaches, “even safer for everyone to enjoy”. Safer than what it is now and always has been?
Cr Andrew Sullivan was the only elected member to vote against the enclosure, having stated: “I’m still not convinced that shark barriers are really the way to go. I think its an enormous amount of money to spend on a fear that can be overcome in other ways.”
The City in February decided to postpone installation of the enclosure in February after a heritage protection order was issued for heritage listed remnants of the Long Jetty which run adjacent to the enclosure.
Henderson contractor Franmarine Underwater Services with O’Connor partners Safer Swimming Australia have already produced the enclosure ahead of approvals from the Department of Transport, Fremantle Ports and Heritage Council of WA.
“The City has therefore made the fiscally responsible decision to postpone deployment, saving a large portion of the $61,035 operational budget for 2025,” CEO Glen Dougall said. “The City plans to deploy the beach enclosure in early October 2025, for the summer season, and remove it at the end of April 2026.”
Until then, stay safe?
Additional stories at http://www.streetwisemedia.com.au/city-seeks-bathers-beach-shark-barrier-funds/ and http://www.streetwisemedia.com.au/bonkers-over-bathers-bay/.