It seems like every time a shark attack is reported, there is a violent response. Sharks are culled with baited drumlines and every solution seems to include maiming or killing sharks to protect beachgoers. Reactionary fans of the cull are happy to see Internet images of bloody sharks hanging from the drumlines. They have adopted the theory that only sharks or people can exist, not both, as the solution to any problem. But finally someone has come up with a different solution.
In Brazil, the city of Recife is “Brazil’s Venice” and was remarkably free of reports of shark attacks from the 1950s to 1992. For some inexplicable reason, that year triggered a spate of attacks, totaling 55 during 1992-2011. They needed to make their beaches safer and began to view other countries’ solutions. They looked at the drums, nets, and results of the culls. Nets end up killing other sea life, including dolphins, whales, and turtles. The systematic baited drum culls are extreme, and in the case of Hawaii (with systematic culls implemented from 1959-1976), did not actually reduce shark attacks.
A team was gathered in Recife, including university researchers. They found that shark attacks increased with the construction of a port complex in the area. The environmental impacts, including pollution, likely drove the change in shark behavior.
With the damage already done, how would Recife choose to handle the problem? They did not react with a cull or nets or guns. They decided to try something different. Apparently, when a shark is removed from an area that is hazardous to them, it won’t return. A test of the theory resulted in tagging tiger sharks and relocating them. They moved to deeper waters and moved north, away from Recife. Recife then adopted the Shark Monitoring Program of Recife (SMPR) for capturing and relocating sharks rather than capturing and killing them.
Shark attack incidents dropped by 97% during the following four years. Interestingly, during periods when the program could not operate due to funding difficulties, shark attacks began to escalate again.
The SMPR research team used drumlines and longlines to target aggressive sharks. They captured, tagged, and transported them in tanks with seawater to a different location. They used special care and treatment to reduce stress and damage to the sharks.
The difficulties lie in using this in widespread areas. It has been successful in the small stretch of Recife beach, but implementation in larger areas would incur huge expenses. The culls cover larger expanses of beach with less expense. Another problem would occur in areas that include shark nursing grounds or migration routes, which might motivate sharks to return after relocation.
The process may not be perfect for every scenario, but at least some areas are willing to look at ways to protect both beachgoers and sharks. We can only hope that this trend continues and scientific research will develop more injury and death-free methods of controlling shark attacks.
