“Shark fishermen have been telling the state Government that shark numbers are in plague proportions and the quota needs to be overhauled, but they are being ignored because Labor’s policy is dictated by the Greens preferences they rely on at election time,” he said. “The state Government should lift the quota on shark fishing and seriously look at extending air patrols.”

Mr [Ian Macdonald] said there was no link between shark quotas and the recent attacks. “It is a lie, it’s false and it’s mischievous and misleading,” Mr Macdonald said.

THE NSW Government has defended its ban on the commercial fishing of sharks, despite two serious attacks last week and the closure of Bondi Beach yesterday following another shark sighting.

The first of the attacks, on Wednesday, left navy diver Paul de Gelder, 31, without his right hand after he was savaged at Woolloomooloo, and the other, at Bondi the next day, injured surfer Glen Orgias, 33. Both remain in a stable condition at St Vincent’s Hospital.

The state Government wrote to fishermen last week declaring a ban on shark fishing until July1, saying the annual quota had already been reached.

State Opposition industry spokesman Duncan Gay said that of the annual quota of 160tonnes of sharks, 100 tonnes were made up of sandbar sharks, which were not regularly caught south of Coffs Harbour, on the mid-North Coast. This left 60 tonnes between Coffs Harbour and the Victorian border.

By comparison, Queensland shark hunters catch up to 3000 tonnes a year.

Mr Gay said Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald was on record as saying the build-up of shark numbers was a priority of his Government.

“Shark fishermen have been telling the state Government that shark numbers are in plague proportions and the quota needs to be overhauled, but they are being ignored because Labor’s policy is dictated by the Greens preferences they rely on at election time,” he said. “The state Government should lift the quota on shark fishing and seriously look at extending air patrols.”

Mr Macdonald said there was no link between shark quotas and the recent attacks. “It is a lie, it’s false and it’s mischievous and misleading,” Mr Macdonald said.

The shark alarm at Bondi was activated, forcing lifesavers to close the beach, after a reported sighting just after 5pm yesterday.

It comes after a 14-year-old dolphin was badly injured by a shark at Morten Bay, near Brisbane. A crew from Sea World on the Gold Coast was last night on standby to treat the dolphin, named Nari, after it was spotted when he came in for his evening feed at a resort on Friday.

But the injured animal last night failed to join the pod of 11 wild dolphins that enjoy a nightly hand-feeding ritual by guests and staff at the Tangalooma Resort.

Credit: John Stapleton, Sanna Trad