“We have two methods... we can either let it expire on the line or we can use a firearm to destroy it,” he said. “In this instance today, we will be using a firearm.”
Animal rights group Humane Society International expressed “extreme concern” at the government’s plans.
“Given that science tells us that drum lines are an unnecessary and lethal option for shark management, the government’s response can only be described as revenge killing,” campaign director Michael Kennedy said in a statement.
Imminent threat
Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett said his state, which has now suffered 14 shark attack fatalities since 2000, was in shock at the latest deaths.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that the number of shark attacks and fatalities from shark attack has increased quite significantly over recent years,” he told reporters in Perth.
Barnett said a number of measures were deployed, including the aerial patrols, to alert swimmers to sharks.
But the catching and killing of the predators has long proved controversial.
A previous trial involving baited hooks attached to floating drum lines to snare sharks was abandoned after objections from conservationists and marine scientists.
Barnett said, however, that the government would always err on the side of public safety and reserved the right to destroy a shark if it posed an imminent threat.