Telegraph:
Shark tourism banned in Western Australia
With four deaths, I cannot blame them for making an effort to prevent future problems. Ultimately, there has to be a balance between safety and revenue...but if sharks are not normally in the west, I do not blame them in this instance.
I do wonder how much revenue this business brings in...
The activity is popular in Southern Australia and South Africa but operators will be prevented from setting up businesses on Australia’s west coast for fear of attracting more sharks.
Norman Moore, the fisheries minister for Western Australia, quoted research that suggests cage diving can change the behaviour of sharks.
“I have decided that Western Australia will not be the place for shark cage tourism,” he said, while recognising that the activity can bring in tourism revenue.
He claimed Western Australia, in contrast to Southern Australia and South Africa, had no known areas where sharks congregated.