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THE erection of KwaZulu-Natal-style shark-nets and selective cul?ling of the inshore shark population were some of the more controversial suggestions made during the open shark debate held in Muizenberg on Sunday.

The debate, organised by surfing administrator Paul Botha, attempted to answer the question of whether there is a shark problem in the Peninsula and what can be done about it. It also responded to the City of Cape Town's draft Shark Safety Strategy that was released to the public on Thursday.

"I do believe there is an increasing danger, especially for surfers, kayakers and divers, that can't be addressed by the Shark Spotters or the possible installation of exclusion nets," said lifesaver and panel member Peter Cole.

"In 15 years of using the ocean as a long-distance surf-ski paddler, I have only started having shark encounters in the last four years. Now you have a very good chance to 'encounter' one whenever you paddle out," Cole says.

John Bromley, surfer, diver and father of a surfer, agreed that shark proliferation is not only responsible for the increased encounters and attacks, but could also explain why False Bay is becoming a "fish desert".

"The shark report says that an increase in shark numbers is not responsible for the increase in incidents, yet everyone I know, including my 15-year-old son, has had a shark encounter du?ring the past five years. For an ocean user who has been in the water for over 20 years, only to encounter sharks so frequently now, surely indicates a po?pulation boom.

"I believe thinning out the numbers of sharks found inshore will not only protect us, but also our dwindling fish stocks," Bromley said.

He contes?ted the shark report fin?dings that great white migratory patterns make culling an ineffective solution by stating that nume?rous divers, cage operators and fishermen could regularly identify individual sharks in the Bay.

Michel Cozien, an environmentalist and fellow panel member, suggested that all-white wetsuits and boards would make surfers a harder mark for visual hunters like sharks.

"Unfortunately the clothing manufacturers I contacted say that this is not fashionable," Cozien said.

He also called for the erection of KwaZulu-Natal-style shark-nets (which annually kill up to 600 sharks and 80 dolphins).

"We can put multi-surfaced balls on the nets to warn off dolphins. If the nets were good enough for Natal, why can they not be used here?"

The audience seemed to be divided on the issue, with one surfer describing the suggestions to cull sharks as archaic and backward.

Craig Ferreira, an ex-Natal Sharks Board member, asked the panel to reconsider their radical instincts. "South Africa has been at the forefront of great white protection. They were protected because we foresaw their decline, and now that our protection is working, we should not go back to wanting to kill them. We need to work on other solutions. People should also read the report and see what the scientific fin?dings on this issue are."

The meeting was closed by Botha urging people to become involved in lobbying for greater safety mea?sures.

"I believe the city is trying, and if they implement everything they said they would in their report, it will make a difference to some ocean users. We do, however, need more political will to admit that there is a problem and take wider measures to ensure marine user's safety, This is a draft report open to public comment, and can be viewed a local libraries," Botha says.

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