How many bull sharks really patrol the rivers around Brisbane — and should anglers be allowed to thin them out? That question is back in front of the Queensland government, thanks to a petition from a fisherman who says the waterways of his youth have become too dangerous to enjoy.
David Frisina, a Brisbane angler and jetski rider in his 60s, has formally asked the state to review and relax its bull shark fishing limits and to weigh population control measures, including culls. His case is personal. He once water-skied on the Brisbane River around Long Pocket in the late 1970s and early 1980s. "I wouldn't do that anymore," he said. "And I'd tell my kids and grandkids not to do it." Even on his jetski, the worry follows him. "I love getting out on the water — it's my freedom. But [I'm] actually scared to fall off," he said, adding of his grandchildren: "I want them to have the lifestyle I had."
Plenty of anglers share his frustration with the current rules, which force them to release sharks above a certain size. Richard Smith, who has fished the river for decades, deliberately targets bull sharks and counts them among its best sport. "They're fast and powerful fish. They move very quickly through the water so they're a great fight," he said. He has fought sharks up to three metres long from his kayak and lost hooked fish to them mid-fight, the depredation that increasingly irritates river anglers.
The harder question is whether the population is actually growing. Daryl McPhee, a marine expert at Bond University, cautions that the case rests largely on anecdote, made louder by viral video. "The anecdotal information is that the population of bull sharks is increasing," he said. "In terms of getting scientific information, they're large animals, they're mobile animals, they're animals that can roam around a large area and that makes it very difficult to get a population assessment."
There is at least some hard data emerging. A major tracking study across south-east Queensland, led by Dr Bonnie Holmes, concluded that bull sharks are far more widespread in local beaches and rivers than most swimmers assume — present, unseen, alongside anyone who gets in the water.
For now the state government says it is still building a credible population estimate. That leaves Queensland weighing the demands of anglers who want looser rules against scientists who warn against culling or deregulating a predator whose true numbers remain unknown.
