The Department for Environment and Water has drawn attention to a published report on white shark cage-diving in South Australia’s Neptune Islands, highlighting the State’s successful management.
Explaining that the Peninsula is one of the few places in the world – and the only place in Australia – to offer shark cage-diving, the Department said the story was told in the world’s leading journal of ocean policy studies, Marine Policy.
“For some, it’s a bucket-list activity, a unique eco-tourism experience where you can get up close and personal with the largest predatory fish on the planet,” the Department said.’
“Here in South Australia, the data and research show that our policy and management is sustainable,” it said.
Director of Marine and Coastal Research Consortium at Flinders University, Charlie Huveneers said the partnership and researchers had established Neptune Islands as an international focal point for white shark research and raised awareness about white sharks and their conservation.
“Shark residency increased in the late 2000s at the same time as a rise in cage-diving activity,” Professor Huveneers said.
“The monitoring program and adaptable management framework were implemented to measure the success of the new rules put in place,” he said.
“White shark residency has returned and remained at baseline levels since 2013, showing that adequate regulations and good industry practices can minimise impacts on white sharks and ensure long-term sustainable wildlife tourism.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment and Water, Tim Hall, said South Australia’s White Shark Tour Licensing Policy set rules and guidelines to ensure white shark tourism at Neptune Islands continued to be environmentally sustainable, socially responsible, and economically progressive.
“We’ve worked closely with tour operators and our research partners at Flinders University to ensure that our policy and management of white shark tours is evidence-based,” Mr Hall said.
“Using 20 years of data collected by tour operators and eight years of scientific monitoring and research, we can track the effects of white shark cage-diving tourism on shark residency,” he said.
“Thanks to this partnership, the shark cage diving industry continues to prosper in South Australia as it fast becomes the global gold standard for this activity,” Mr Hall said.
