Footage of a tiger shark being hooked and dragged into shore at a West Australian tourist hotspot has sparked calls for shark fishing to be restricted at busy swimming beaches.
The shark was caught and appeared to be released with the hook and part of the fishing line still lodged in its mouth at Bunker Bay on Wednesday afternoon as dozens of people watched on.
It is not illegal to fish for tiger sharks off WA beaches if there are no local government restrictions.
But Dunsborough surfer Blair Ranford, who was at the beach, said it was not the right time or place.
"It's not fishing for a small shark for dinner," he said.
"They're paddling out baits with a kayak, literally right in front of the [Pullman] resort.
"Unfortunately, it's not a one-off occurrence — this happens a lot."
Mr Ranford said the incident put other beachgoers in danger — the area was swarming with school holiday tourists and those out to enjoy consecutive long weekends.
"There was a girl in the water swimming and I saw her get out and had a bit of a shocked look on her face that there was someone catching a shark right where she was swimming," he said.
"I know most locals down here, if you ask them, don't want this going on on their beaches where they surf, where they swim, where their kids are."
Mr Ranford said the use of large baits could lead to unintended consequences.
"It's inevitable we have sharks in the ocean, but we don't want to be baiting them up to stay in the area," he said.
Sharks of all types are common at Bunker Bay.
Kyle Burden was killed when he was attacked by a shark while bodyboarding at Bunker Bay in 2011.
Phil Mummert was bitten by a 5-metre great white while surfing at the beach in 2020.
Prior incident prompts ban
The footage comes two months after the WA government moved to restrict shark fishing at populated beaches near Fremantle.
The issue was highlighted when the ABC revealed footage of a tiger shark being dragged backwards up the sand at Port Beach, alive, bleeding and metres away from swimmers.
Fisheries Minister Don Punch said the ban on wire traces for fishing gear, primarily used for shark fishing, could be extended to other beaches if local governments requested it.
The issue was raised again after the discovery of a dead tiger shark near Busselton Jetty.
A local diver discovered it on the ocean floor with shark fishing gear still attached to it.
Recfishwest said fishers needed to be mindful of what they were doing.
"We encourage all fishers to think about when and where they choose to fish for sharks."
The spokesman said fishers had enjoyed safely fishing for sharks from various parts of the coast for generations.
Minister reluctant to intervene
Mr Punch said he wanted to see people make sensible decisions at public beaches.
"I don't want to come in and just apply rules and regulations — I want people to use common sense and act respectfully to other beach users," he said.
"I would ask that swimmers make sure they're not in an environment where there is a shark and recreational fishers have a responsibility to fish responsibly and to recognise other users of our coastline."
But Mr Ranford said something needed to be done to reduce the risk.
"It just doesn't lend to increasing beach safety at all," he said.
"It's about targeted trophy hunting of the biggest, baddest shark these guys can get and they're doing it in some of our most popular beaches."
The City of Busselton said it hoped recreational fishers would exercise a degree of common sense during busy holiday periods, but the council was not considering lobbying for formal restrictions to be put in place at Bunker Bay.
In a statement, Busselton Mayor Grant Henley said his council had written to the state government requesting it consider putting fishing restrictions in place around the busy Busselton Jetty precinct.
He also called on the government to consider a statewide approach to shore-based shark fishing.
