The State Government has confirmed they will not be deploying drum lines to catch a shark that fatally mauled a teenager off Esperance.
Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly, who is responding to his first shark attack as minister, told The West Australian, deploying drum lines does not make beaches any safer and a change in government has ended the practice.
“The fact that drum lines weren’t deployed this morning I think you can safely say was a result of the change in policy from the election,” he said.
“We made it clear in opposition that we don’t see the merit in automatically deploying drum lines in these circumstances.
“This morning the beach is closed, the beach is clear, there’s no-one in the water, it’s a reasonably remote location so there is no purpose served this morning by deploying drum lines."
Mr Kelly paid tribute to the 17-year-old Mandurah girl who was fatally mauled by a shark while surfing with her father at Kelp Beds in Wylie Bay on Monday afternoon.
“Obviously yesterday’s incident is a tragedy, to have a young woman lose her life in those circumstances is very sad,” he said.
Wylie Bay Beach will remain closed until further notice.
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