From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 19 September

This requires a fleeting suspension of disbelief. Imagine if a shark were to wander into the middle of a main street. There is every possibility it would suffer a certain fate.

EVERY time we venture out into the surf there is a possibility we, too, will, suffer the same fate. The sea is the sharks’ territory, not ours. To suggest we are able to control these predators is too silly, by half.

There is a hubristic fallacy that we sit atop the ecological tree, and irrespective, every other living creature, on land and sea, should fall into line with our selfish wants and desires. It is a ridiculous sentiment which has brought us to the precipice of an environmental calamity.

The death of any surfer is tragic; however, to imagine we are able to locate the guilty shark is arrant nonsense. Also, the pleasure of it notwithstanding, one has to ask: why would you wittingly tempt providence; put yourself in harm’s way? It is understood: we are an island continent; a nation of coastal dwellers who have developed an affinity with the sea; however, and to mix metaphors: they that go down to the sea in ships and occupy their business in great waters, are playing with fire!

According to researchers, almost 100 million sharks are killed each year. It is a dangerously high, and totally unsustainable number, and many species need better protection. Scientists have warned, sharks are being over-fished and there is an evolving danger of extinction. Without sharks our marine ecosystems face an uncertain future. Many populations continue to decline at an alarming rate.

Fin fishing is one of the major challenges.  Every year, millions of sharks are caught, their fins removed and the carcass thrown back into the sea. With no basis in science, and a total lack of empirical evidence, many Asian countries use the fins medicinally – even as an aphrodisiac!

Sharks are slow growing, late to mature, reproduce slowly and are particularly vulnerable to human interference. The Greenland shark lives up to 400 years and reaches sexual maturity at about 150 years. Many are killed before producing an offspring. Shark pregnancies average between 9-12 months. The greeneye spurdog, which is not a threat to humans and is listed as near threatened, has the longest gestation period, recorded at 31 months.

Globally, hammerhead sharks are listed as critical. Their populations has decreased by 95 per cent in 30 years.

The whale shark, which can live to 100 years, is on the endangered red list.

Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, the grey nurse shark is listed as two separate populations. On Australia’s east coast it is critically endangered. On the West coast it is in danger. They produce only two pups in each litter.

Until 1990, and according to John H Harding, the grey nurse shark had an undeserved reputation as a man-eater; actually, they are a threat to swimmers and divers only when provoked. Incorrectly, many shark attacks in Australia have been attributed to the grey nurse, leading to indiscriminate killing by spear and line fishers. Other risks lie with accidental catch from commercial fisheries, recreational fishing and, to a lesser extent, the bather protection programs in New South Wales and Queensland.

Sharks have been swimming the world’s oceans for more than 400 million years – 100 million years before the first dinosaurs appeared on land.  Australia has one of the worst environmental records. We have a duty to protect them into the future.

Nene King, the former editor-in-chief of Woman’s Day and Australian Women’s Weekly remembers, clearly, the day her husband, music journalist, Pat Bowring, went diving and never returned. She said, “I don’t blame the shark. They don’t swim in our pools, and we shouldn’t swim in theirs. I believe in their sanctity, and one of them ate my husband! I am certainly not angry at the shark.”

Roland can be heard with Brett Macdonald each Monday at 10.45am Radio 3BA and contacted via [email protected].