Locals say crab pots attract sharks

Residents of Pakiri Beach forced to flee the water recently because of shark sightings have blamed bait used by a commercial fisherman.

On Thursday, an Auckland helicopter pilot saw four sharks tracking a kayaker near the beach, north of Auckland. Two days earlier, six 2-3m sharks were spotted close to Omaha Beach, south of Pakiri.

Omaha Beach Residents and Ratepayers Association president Russell Hart said fish offal used in crab pots was attracting the ocean predators into shallow waters.

He said residents had complained of seeing crab pots being dropped just 50m from the beach.

"The beach has been cleared [by shark sightings] a couple of times this year.

"Dropping pots that close to shore at this time of year is totally inappropriate."

He said the fisherman's activities had been raised at a recent annual meeting of the association.

"We are frustrated. The only recourse we have is with the Ministry of Fisheries, who issue licences."

He wants a 2km restriction on the use of crab pots during the summer.

But ministry spokesman Alan Meek said the higher number of shark sightings was caused by cooler water temperatures and recent poor weather, not cray pots.

"There is a heap of small fish in the shallows as a direct result of recent bad weather. It's much more likely the sharks are in the shallows because the fish are."

His assessment has been supported by Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium curator Andrew Christie.

Mr Christie said sharks normally came closer to shore at this time of year, to feed and breed.

The sharks spotted off Pakiri were probably common bronze whalers.

A West Auckland man found a 3m shark tangled in the net he retrieved 150m out from Murrays Bay on the North Shore on Tuesday evening.

Mike Nordmeyer, 20, said the shark was "very much alive when I pulled the net in. I jumped back quite a bit". He decided to tow it to shore.

"It didn't start to thrash about until it noticed it was getting into shallow water. It charged the boat and tried to hit it - it's a pretty old boat - which made me feel a little uneasy."

Mr Nordmeyer later carved up the predator and distributed it among friends and family.

"The response to the taste has been mixed," he said. "I won't be eating shark again. While it was a bit of a laugh to be at the top of the foot chain, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone."