Tuesday, December 09, 2014

NZ GWS Tourism - more Trouble!

Mobile Shark cage - maybe a solution? Source.

Bingo.
And I cite.
11. In spite of the clear duty of care, the paua industry is currently incurring significant costs as a direct consequence of health and safety risks arising from shark tourism operations, as detailed in the attached case study. This suggests that the current legislative framework is not sufficient to ensure that the duty of care in section 16(1)(a) is :
  • reflected in practice by businesses – for example, some shark tourism operators publicly display a cavalier attitude to the safety of others in the vicinity .
    A Stewart Island shark tourism operator, when asked if he would dive with great white sharks without a cage responded “ No that would be stupid! ...the answer is categorically the same each time – NO! ” and yet this operator is well aware that commercial paua divers and other marine users are frequently present (without the protection of a shark cage ) in the waters in the vicinity of his business.
    The same operator allowed a television host, deliberately posing as a vulnerable diver, to goad a great white shark into attacking the shark cage ;

The Pāua divers are on the offensive and so far, they are winning.
So far, none of the NZ GWS Shark diving operators has been issued a license and research permits are being withheld. This is the direct consequence of a continued abject lack of outreach and education coupled with naive and greedy operators that have been goaded into those stupidities by the kings of Shark porn, ABC4 and Jeff Kurr.
And so it goes.
To be continued no doubt!

    2 comments:

    Paua tastes best w lemon said...

    The Paua Divers have a strong case in this case.

    DaShark said...

    Maybe - not convinced.
    The GWS have been there all along and the evidence that they've somehow become more dangerous is lacking.

    Be it as it may, there would be models for peaceful coexistence, e.g. separation either temporally or geographically, or self-propelled Shark cages like in Australia, or Shark shields or the like.
    But that would require some form of dialogue and so far, it's the one thing that has been sorely lacking.

    Let's see what the regulators come up with.
    GWS tourism is potentially a multi-million industry that could benefit th whole community and my hope is that this process will set it onto a more sustainable course - including curtailing any further idiotic stunts for television!