KEY POINTS:
From this month, all great white sharks in New Zealand's territorial waters are protected under the Wildlife Act. At first glance it seems a joke to protect the most feared predator in the ocean.
Great white sharks make headlines when a swimmer, surfer or diver is attacked. This promotes the idea that the sea is full of man-eating sharks. In fact, sharks are rarely seen around New Zealand, and studies show that shark numbers are declining world-wide.
The chance of a car accident on the way to a beach is far greater than that of being attacked by a great white shark in the sea. Even sightings of sharks by beach-goers are rare.
Great white sharks often become news when caught in unattended set nets. Other than this there seems little threat to them around New Zealand. Spear and line fishers generally avoid them, and swimmers, surfers and kayakers definitely don't harass them.
So will the act protect great white sharks from being caught in set nets? The answer is no, it won't give them any more protection than under current laws.
The proposed protection allows the unintended capture of a great white shark by an amateur or commercial fisher. No prosecution will be brought as long as the capture of the shark is reported. Whether the capture of a great white shark in a set net is reported or not will do little to help the shark in the way the act is intended.
South Africa, California and some Australian states already have laws protecting great white sharks. In addition, Australia, Britain and the US have much stricter laws covering the use of set nets.
The great white shark is now listed as threatened under the Convention in Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) which is recognised by more than 160 countries. On the black market, a large set of jaws with teeth can fetch up to $50,000.
The ineffectiveness of the act on the great white shark highlights the problems with unattended set nets in New Zealand. Set nets are banned in marine reserves, dolphin sanctuaries, areas protected under the Conservation Act, and places where swimmers could unwittingly be caught in them.
Ministry of Fisheries' pamphlets advise users to check nets hourly, remove nets in the shortest possible time, and avoid overnight setting of nets. The advice is just a guide and nothing prevents set nets from being left for long periods.
Dolphins, birds, sharks and other sea creatures blunder into set nets and die. Many of the fish caught are dumped, including undersized fish and species not considered suitable for food.
New Zealand has good daily quota regulations for amateur fishing but more than the daily legal quotas of fish are regularly caught in unattended set nets.
There is no way of stopping this depletion of fish numbers, short of banning the use of set nets or a change in the law ruling that the net must be attended so unwanted fish can be released alive. In the case of a great white shark, few people will get close enough to a six-metre shark thrashing around in a net to try to release it.
How many great white sharks live around New Zealand? Research at the Chatham Islands has shown large aggregations at certain times of the year. No such numbers have been found around mainland New Zealand and only occasional individuals have been caught or seen.
Great white sharks are known predators of New Zealand fur seals. No doubt shark numbers would have been much greater before early sealers almost drove the seals to extinction around New Zealand. Now that seal numbers are increasing again, it is not unreasonable to suggest that their main predator will also increase in number.
But while we can only guess at the numbers of great white sharks in New Zealand, other species of shark have declined significantly. Kawau Bay, in the Hauraki Gulf, once supported a large shark fishery, first by Maori and then by European settlers.
Not long ago, any boat trip across the Hauraki Gulf included sightings of large numbers of sharks on the surface. Today, sharks are seen much less often in the Gulf, and offshore oceanic shark numbers have declined.
Shark finning, where the fins and tails of sharks are cut off and the rest of the fish dumped, is practised world-wide despite bans in many countries.
In New Zealand, fishing industry magazines still have advertisements for shark fins. Current regulations relate the weight of fins against the weight of landed sharks to ensure the bodies are not dumped. These other species may have suffered an even greater decline in numbers than the great white shark.
Every summer, large numbers of set nets appear around the coast. The resulting unwanted fish are dumped either dead or dying when the nets are retrieved. In the case of amateurs, this can be days after the setting of the net, because of bad weather or boat problems.
Dead or dying fish flapping around on the surface will attract sharks to feed on the unwanted fish, often resulting in a shark being caught in the net and dumped. That is, of course, unless it is a great white shark. Then it will again be the subject of awe as it is displayed across the front pages of newspapers and on television.
As long as it is reported, it doesn't contravene the protection of great white sharks. Sadly, the legislation does not have the teeth to protect the most feared yet one of the most efficient predators on the planet.
* Jenny and Tony Enderby of Leigh are freelance authors and photographers.
