Point Reyes Light - September 30, 1999

Bolinas fisherman and scientists debate idea of killing great white sharks

Driven by local and national media coverage of white shark sightings off Stinson Beach in August, discussions of the predator's role in the ecosystem have resurfaced.

And with the population of white sharks off the West Marin coast thought to be growing, one of West Marin's last commercial fisherman is suggesting that it might be time to start holding down their numbers.

At the last meeting of the Bolinas Lagoon Technical Advisory Committee, Bolinas fisherman Josh Churchman said he was concerned about the threat posed by four or five white sharks he says he has seen repeatedly in recent months in coastal waters.

These sharks - including one with a distinctive notch in its dorsal fin - are all approximately 12 feet long, and are the same animals he saw ply the waters off Bolinas' Duxbury Reef as "teenagers" of eight to 10 feet, he said.

"In a couple of years they will be 15 feet," he later told The Light. "And hunger is a motivator. If the pinniped [seal and sea lion] population drops, then they will adjust, and find something else to eat."

Because of the apparent "territorial" nature of these sharks, Churchman said he believes that as the fish grow, the probability of an attack off Stinson or Bolinas grows with them.

He said in 1983, a commercial fisherman hauled in four adult white sharks off the Farallones. For the next five years, the number of recorded attacks on local seals and sea lions was greatly reduced, he said.

Churchman said he sees the need to talk about possibly culling some of the whites. "If you have two or three fatal attacks at Stinson, that will have a large impact on the economy," the fisherman said. "My call is, if they are territorial, then remove them now."

But to shark researcher Scot Anderson, the issue is not about white sharks' feeding habits, but about people's perceptions. "I don't know why people got so excited about the sightings off Stinson," he said. "The sharks are out there, and people are always at risk. But white sharks do not feed on people. If they did, there would certainly be a lot more attacks than we have seen."

He explained that the notion of white sharks habitually and intentionally attacking humans is a myth. He told The Light that white sharks, particularly younger ones, set up "seasonal residency" in an area with good feeding but that it would be inaccurate to refer to them as territorial.

"There are hundreds of seals in the area of Duxbury Reef," he said. "And the water is clear, which the sharks like because they can see their prey. You will certainly have sightings there."

Sarah Allen, a science advisor with the Point Reyes National Seashore, agreed that white sharks are "seasonally present" in the region, though some may stay year-round. Both elephant and harbor seals attract attention during the spring breeding season, she explained, and September and October mark the the fall "haul-out phase" for juvenile elephant seals. Allen also confirmed that local white shark populations remain unknown. "I don't think we have any idea what their population is," she said.

It is widely thought that the number of white sharks has increased in recent years off West Marin and the Farallon Islands, perhaps in part because of a 1997 statewide ban on their capture by commercial and sportfisherman.

However, Anderson noted, it is rare for anyone to advocate the culling of sharks to protect the general public.

Such an approach would surely reduce the risk of an attack, he said, but the idea of lifting the ban to eliminate individual sharks that have shown no propensity for eating humans holds no merit - at least until a series of attacks occur.

"California has a very progressive view towards white sharks," he said. "Most of the surfers and divers I've met like the idea of 'whitey' being out there."

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