Many pro-cullers like to say, "You aren't a fisherman, so you don't know", or "If you lived here and used these waters you would think differently". To be accurate, I've swam, free-dove, and SCUBA'd in Western Australian, South Australia, and New South Wales, but I am not an Australian nor am I a fisherman. So instead of listening to me, here's an Australian fisherman I interviewed while in WA.
Andre Rerekuru shares a fisherman's point of view contesting the false buzz that is often circulated in the news that all fishermen want sharks dead. It's actually a minority that feels this way, but the media love to put noisy and emotional people in the news instead of rational, educated people.
A favorite part of the interview is Andre explaining that everywhere he goes in the world, where shark populations have been wiped out the rest of the diving conditions also suffered, but where there are sharks, there are also fish and other beautiful sea life. Something that I would like to think fishermen understand is that predators play a vital role in the rest of the fish stock also being healthy and plentiful. Killing them in the name of food competition or claiming that sharks are over-abundant just shows that even people who's livelihoods depend on the ocean actually understand little about it. In my opinion the word "fisherman" is used to broadly.
Many using this title are ocean rapists, not fishermen, and I think it should be required for all fishermen to take ecology courses (and ethics if possible).
Andre also explains how his perception of sharks changed as he became more familiar, what spear fishing is like with sharks around, what the highest risk water activities are (and how to lower your risk).
Andre does great work with Terra Australis, check them out.
A favorite part of the interview is Andre explaining that everywhere he goes in the world, where shark populations have been wiped out the rest of the diving conditions also suffered, but where there are sharks, there are also fish and other beautiful sea life. Something that I would like to think fishermen understand is that predators play a vital role in the rest of the fish stock also being healthy and plentiful. Killing them in the name of food competition or claiming that sharks are over-abundant just shows that even people who's livelihoods depend on the ocean actually understand little about it. In my opinion the word "fisherman" is used to broadly.
Many using this title are ocean rapists, not fishermen, and I think it should be required for all fishermen to take ecology courses (and ethics if possible).
Andre also explains how his perception of sharks changed as he became more familiar, what spear fishing is like with sharks around, what the highest risk water activities are (and how to lower your risk).
Andre does great work with Terra Australis, check them out.
