Hello friends, by Sunday I will have done 4 downwinders in a row and if it wasn't for Xmas getting the way it woulda been 7! We are pretty lucky over here in summer.
However our local run is about to have massive hooks with bait dumped all the way along it for our "safety".
It's safe to say I'm not extremely stoked about this.
IM NOT STARTING A DEBATE, just wanted to let other people who are also against this that there is a paddle out protest at cottesloe and other spots around the country on January 4th. I'll try n post a flyer underneath.
If you are happy with the hooks, each to their own. As I said, it's not a debate just letting people know if they're against it their is something they can do.
Cheers people, have a safe break:)
I hear you man, i too am not about for or against the sharks, this is just about "Thats interesting.. the baits are going right down the centreline of our (downwinders) runs!" That was my very first thought when i saw it on the news and they said "1 km from shore", and at all those locations - shark bait slalom! My second thought was "just like baiting ants we might get more before we get less" - but that was just my thought, may be right may be wrong, I don't want to get into a tech discussion with the boffins, cos they know what they know you know ;) . It is just to say yeah I see it too - maybe dont put lumps of sharkie snacks right down the centre of our runs? - that maybe just a little more hazardous to us than if there were no baits surely? Maybe there's a better way? i dunno, but the fact our runs are being baited has got to be at least mentioned, in a charismatic way that will be listened to and acted on, to somebody who can actually do something about it. Thats important. Find those people (or person). then got to make the bureaucrats feel good about making a decision that is satisfactory to us as well as to their community and their other influences. That is, have some ideas ready that will meet their "real" needs. Oh, and if its a southerly that day i'll be coming in from Freo direction! ;) Cheers!
Hey sup46. Hope to see you on the day. I'm totally against the culling of a protected species not to mention what ever else dies on those hooks. It also makes me feel a lot less safe knowing their gonna be hooks all along our run along that could attract sharks. It definitely doesn't make me feel safer to surf off the beach either.
So wether u have one reason or many to not want them, get on board.... Or on a board;)
Ditto, their are solid arguments for and against the culling of sharks, but it's a bit like trying to attract foxes into your chicken coup in the hope you'll get them with minimum losses.
Hi Marcus would be out there with you big NO to hook line and sinker on our DW track will be down south still there's no sharks in Esperance out west 
Hi all
Here is a letter I wrote to Mr Barnett. I would urge people to write to him with their views.
I am not a fan of being nibbled by shark either. I do think the baited hook programme is unwise and potentially unsafe for those of us who are offshore and closer to those hooks than the recreational swimmer.
This is where you can send your letters: http://www.premier.wa.gov.au/Ministers/Colin-Barnett/Pages/Contact-The-Minister.aspx
Dear Mr Barnett
I am a regular stand up paddle surfer at Cottesloe beach where you intend to place your bated hooks for sharks.
I am vehemently opposed to this action. Baited hooks will attract sharks to the area increasing the level of risk for many of us who enjoy the ocean further from the shore than recreational swimmers. I would have thought this action is antithetical to your governments response to sharks in our waters. That is I would have thought a deterrent to sharks would have been a wiser choice.
Culling, in my view and the view of ocean scientists is also not the answer. While many sharks are sighted, as you know, few people are attacked by sharks.
Please be more rational in your response to the shark "threat" by employing strategies to collect data on their migratory patterns and their behaviours toward humans in the water.
You are putting me at risk when you elect to attract sharks to an area of ocean I use for fitness and pleasure.
***
Good on you Marcus. You wouldn't catch me out there running the line of those baited hooks.
hey guys on the goldie we run the shark nets/shark baits all the time. mind you if i fall off there i certainly don't waste much time getting back on the board
not entering the debate, just saying
thank god we have baited drums on our beaches hasn't been a death or an attack in 50 years.
by the way my nephews paddle surf skis around them all year round.
IT's a really difficult moral issue but I have had couple of scary incidents with sharks over the years and I would have to say that I am far more comfortable surfing and swimming in protected areas than i am in unprotected areas.They work and the statistics prove it. I would hope that in the future technology will make drum lines and nets unnecessary and would also think that common sense should prevail when entering the water.
And what about Shark Shields? I think I would have one attached to the board in these areas or if I was a navy diver in Sydney Harbour or an abalone diver in WA, I think I would have one. Not 100% effective but better than nothing.
PS. When I read the heading of this post I thought that you had all lost your paddles.!
Select to expand quote
yep great read but they are talking about bait drums two different things drums don't catch turtles whales or dolphins and are very affective
in picking up sharks that are already in the area.
Select to expand quoteweiry said...
yep great read but they are talking about bait drums two different things drums don't catch turtles whales or dolphins and are very affective
in picking up sharks that are already in the area.
The nets on this side of Aus are also baited below.
Didn't realise they weren't always used together. I guess this is what they refer to as a drum line then?
Does change the situation slightly, no change to my opinion though.
Happy to learn new things though
now if you look up our area we have 54 drums they are exactly the same specs drums used no longlines.
by the way the contractors don't sit beside them throwing blood & guts with blood plumes floating down the coast.
but hey lets not let facts get in the way of a good story.
Hey weiry, thanks for your input. I'm glad your stoked bout your nets and baits over there. Sorry everyone, knew this would end up being a debate.
Now seriously, I need your help, I can't find my paddle if anyone comes across it;)
It's not a good story weiry, just an invite for people to come to something if they want. Relax. Like I said earlier, each to their own.
Select to expand quoteweiry said...
now if you look up our area we have 54 drums they are exactly the same specs drums used no longlines.
by the way the contractors don't sit beside them throwing blood & guts with blood plumes floating down the coast.
but hey lets not let facts get in the way of a good story.
Not trying to be arrogant, not the one who red thumbed either..
I understand they are baited hooks, I regularly see the catch and talk to the contractors that clear them. But aren't consecutive drum lines the same as a long line? Or is it a difference in the depth the hooks lay?
When looking at that doc u posted makes me wonder why they still do nets at all? Not many places use them according to that?
RJK its ok, the red doesn't bother me
look I'm not against the protest,in-fact i hope you have a nice day my point is about the use of DRUMS not nets .. why... they seem to work/worked for 50years here (here is CQ not GC)
we don't have nets in our area as seen on that doc.
RJK no they aren't the same here. i cant speak for the whole state but in that doc it has the diagrams of the drum setup.
54 drums here with 1 hook only that get checked twice a week.
hey it will do us until a better way is found and obviously people in WA want something at least done.
Select to expand quotemarcus said..
... just wanted to let other people who are also against this that there is a paddle out protest at cottesloe ...
No boards allowed between October 1 and March 31.
I will be supporting this SOS call at the Burleigh paddle out. Hopefully we will get a decent turnout. Do you have a contact point for whoever is organising it?
Re the shark cull.. Do you all know millions yes Millions of sharks are killed every year just for their fins ? where is the public outcry over this. Targeting sharks in a local hot spots for swimming/surfing works. Having being born on the Gold Coast 50 years ago there has only been one attack in that time. I always remember as a kid shark nets and drums even paddling out to them on my nipper board.
We still get whale migration close to shore every year plus the juvenile whites (around 4m) following them the only thing we are missing is the seals compared to WA. So knocking off a few sharks to save lives is a no brainer for me the Gold Coast is living proof that it works. If you really want to save some sharks stop the relentless finning massacre.
Select to expand quotePiros said...
Re the shark cull.. Do you all know millions yes Millions of sharks are killed every year just for their fins ? where is the public outcry over this. Targeting sharks in a local hot spots for swimming/surfing works. Having being born on the Gold Coast 50 years ago there has only been one attack in that time. I always remember as a kid shark nets and drums even paddling out to them on my nipper board.
We still get whale migration close to shore every year plus the juvenile whites (around 4m) following them the only thing we are missing is the seals compared to WA. So knocking off a few sharks to save lives is a no brainer for me the Gold Coast is living proof that it works. If you really want to save some sharks stop the relentless finning massacre.
Before the do gooders start putting big hooks in you,I say well said and bravo
Select to expand quotechrispy said...Piros said...
Re the shark cull.. Do you all know millions yes Millions of sharks are killed every year just for their fins ? where is the public outcry over this. Targeting sharks in a local hot spots for swimming/surfing works. Having being born on the Gold Coast 50 years ago there has only been one attack in that time. I always remember as a kid shark nets and drums even paddling out to them on my nipper board.
We still get whale migration close to shore every year plus the juvenile whites (around 4m) following them the only thing we are missing is the seals compared to WA. So knocking off a few sharks to save lives is a no brainer for me the Gold Coast is living proof that it works. If you really want to save some sharks stop the relentless finning massacre.
Before the do gooders start putting big hooks in you,I say well said and bravo
I think you'll find those do gooders have been protesting finning for years, and If you look into it there is plenty of public outcry over it.
Select to expand quoteRJK said...chrispy said...Piros said...
Re the shark cull.. Do you all know millions yes Millions of sharks are killed every year just for their fins ? where is the public outcry over this. Targeting sharks in a local hot spots for swimming/surfing works. Having being born on the Gold Coast 50 years ago there has only been one attack in that time. I always remember as a kid shark nets and drums even paddling out to them on my nipper board.
We still get whale migration close to shore every year plus the juvenile whites (around 4m) following them the only thing we are missing is the seals compared to WA. So knocking off a few sharks to save lives is a no brainer for me the Gold Coast is living proof that it works. If you really want to save some sharks stop the relentless finning massacre.
Before the do gooders start putting big hooks in you,I say well said and bravo
I think you'll find those do gooders have been protesting finning for years, and If you look into it there is plenty of public outcry over it.
And you paddled out where to protest against this?
You pointing me towards a web link is laughable...what have YOU done?
from a scientific veiw point, years of drumming/netting and no or few attacks is not vaild data that they work. Kinda like having ERP on your car, getting no or little rust and saying that is proof it works.
Select to expand quotechrispy said...RJK said...chrispy said...Piros said...
Re the shark cull.. Do you all know millions yes Millions of sharks are killed every year just for their fins ? where is the public outcry over this. Targeting sharks in a local hot spots for swimming/surfing works. Having being born on the Gold Coast 50 years ago there has only been one attack in that time. I always remember as a kid shark nets and drums even paddling out to them on my nipper board.
We still get whale migration close to shore every year plus the juvenile whites (around 4m) following them the only thing we are missing is the seals compared to WA. So knocking off a few sharks to save lives is a no brainer for me the Gold Coast is living proof that it works. If you really want to save some sharks stop the relentless finning massacre.
Before the do gooders start putting big hooks in you,I say well said and bravo
I think you'll find those do gooders have been protesting finning for years, and If you look into it there is plenty of public outcry over it.
And you paddled out where to protest against this?
You pointing me towards a web link is laughable...what have YOU done?
I'm not going to uselessly argue points back an forth on seabreaze. I'm not trying to persuade public opinion as I don't know all the facts. I'm not paddling out and honestly don't think doing so will change anything.
Re finning, Personally I have gone directly to the industries in a not so public way to understand the root of the issue and had direct contact with authorities which actually have the power to change it. Additionally I have been apart of founding educational systems that are currently implemented in Queensland schools giving the next generation the actual facts on the shark finning industry which will hopefully change public perception of this industry in the future.
Select to expand quoteRJK said...chrispy said...RJK said...chrispy said...Piros said...
Re the shark cull.. Do you all know millions yes Millions of sharks are killed every year just for their fins ? where is the public outcry over this. Targeting sharks in a local hot spots for swimming/surfing works. Having being born on the Gold Coast 50 years ago there has only been one attack in that time. I always remember as a kid shark nets and drums even paddling out to them on my nipper board.
We still get whale migration close to shore every year plus the juvenile whites (around 4m) following them the only thing we are missing is the seals compared to WA. So knocking off a few sharks to save lives is a no brainer for me the Gold Coast is living proof that it works. If you really want to save some sharks stop the relentless finning massacre.
Before the do gooders start putting big hooks in you,I say well said and bravo
I think you'll find those do gooders have been protesting finning for years, and If you look into it there is plenty of public outcry over it.
And you paddled out where to protest against this?
You pointing me towards a web link is laughable...what have YOU done?
I'm not going to uselessly argue points back an forth on seabreaze. I'm not trying to persuade public opinion as I don't know all the facts. I'm not paddling out and honestly don't think doing so will change anything.
Re finning, Personally I have gone directly to the industries in a not so public way to understand the root of the issue and had direct contact with authorities which actually have the power to change it. Additionally I have been apart of founding educational systems that are currently implemented in Queensland schools giving the next generation the actual facts on the shark finning industry which will hopefully change public perception of this industry in the future.
Well surely you can provide a link for all you have done?
You can't use a cop out of the old I'm not going to argue on the internet,when what you have already posted says otherwise...my son goes to school in QLD,where can we find out about what you had implemented? Because he knows nothing about it
Chrispy there has been at least one doco made on the de finning of sharks. Its mostly for the Chineese market. They eat it not so much for flavour or health, but for social status 
So feel free to kick a chinaman in the nuts next time you see them eating SFS
