January Sees Record NSW Shark Attacks in Ten Years

New South Wales has experienced the highest number of shark attacks for January across the state in the last decade, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database. But while marine experts said shark numbers were declining globally, commercial fishers in NSW are convinced bull shark numbers in particular are increasing. In the span of 48 hours, there were four shark attacks in NSW. Jodie Rummer, a marine biology professor at James Cook University, said the recent spate of shark attacks "is even shocking to me". "It is surprising to hear of that many in such a short period of time and in a relatively small area," Dr Rummer said. "It is very alarming, but we need to look at the big picture here." The 'perfect storm' to attract sharks This recent spate of attacks is the highest number of shark attacks in a month since mid-2020, when there were five recorded attacks across NSW in June. In the past decade, there has been an average of 10 shark attacks in NSW a year. However, Dr Rummer said shark populations were declining worldwide, and that it was one of the "most threatened groups of organisms in the ocean". "We often hear that there are more sharks, but the reality is that there are more people in the water than ever before, and that naturally increases the chance of encounters," she said. Climate change is one of the key problems faced by sharks, as it leads to warmer waters, more severe marine heatwaves, and an increase in storms. "Those changing conditions are going to change when and where sharks are, and, of course, that's going to change when we're going to have those interactions with humans," Dr Rummer said. A growing population, leading to a larger number of people swimming, is another contributing factor. Dr Rummer said sharks also tended to swim towards coastal areas where the water was warmer and had more nutrients and prey, like fish. "So, you know, when we get these big storm systems coming through, we're going to get a lot of that warm water much closer to the coast," she said. This results in murky, "turbid waters", which Dr Rummer said created "the perfect storm" to attract sharks. Commercial fisherman seeing 'lots of bull sharks' NSW South Coast-based commercial fisherman, Jason Moyce, said despite figures showing global shark population decline, he believed smart management of fisheries in past decades had resulted in a local shark population boom. "In my experience, 40 years of fishing, I've definitely seen an increase," he said. "I've seen a lot of bull sharks on my drone footage, on my social media pages I've put a lot of footage up." Recreational fishers in NSW are allowed to take five sharks per day, with a limit of one of each species listed under NSW Fisheries rules. But Mr Moyce said commercial fishers were only allowed to take 500 kilograms of shark each week, which he said was usually two animals. He said allowing fishers to catch more sharks could help reduce the number of attacks on humans. "A doubling would actually put a little dent in the population," he said. "I'm not calling for it, it's just a suggestion. "We can't go for an all-out slaughter, but definitely an increase in our catch rates would help." A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said they strongly advised the community to "stay out of the water" for the time being. "Recent weather along the New South Wales coast continues to create conditions that significantly increase the likelihood of shark activity, especially bull sharks that are more active in these conditions. If you're near the coastline, it's important to understand how the environment can influence shark behaviour," the spokesperson said. Ultimately, for Dr Rummer, she said while shark-human interactions were something that needed to be taken with extreme caution, they were an ocean species that needed to be conserved. "Sharks are a sign of a functioning and healthy ocean, not a broken one, and that's something we definitely need to remember," she said.