A Perth fisherman who caught a bull shark in the Swan River on Thursday morning, has defended re-releasing the three-metre beast back into the water.
“It’s the biggest bull shark I’ve caught in Western Australia, I was like yeah this is a potential man-eater,” the 21-year-old told 9News.
His decision to release it back into the river caused outrage from some, angry that he freed the “predator” back into the river where a shark of the same species killed Stella Berry.
However, the law requires fishermen to release bull sharks back into the water, and Boyle agrees, saying he “does not agree with killing or hurting sharks”.
The fisherman also “doesn’t think it’s the same shark” that killed Berry, saying he’s seen rising population numbers of bull sharks in the Swan River.
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The catch prompted the closure of Freemantle beach on Thursday, and it remained closed to swimmers today.
“The Swan River is a bull shark breeding ground,” Boyle said.
“Fisheries have to go out there and put some effort in I think and go put some tags into some sharks in the river and monitor them.”
