Following a record number of attacks this year, and retracting his earlier stand, the leader of a state on Australia's west coast announced Thursday that any great white sharks seen near beachgoers would be killed in order to prevent attacks on humans. "We will always put the lives and safety of beachgoers ahead of the shark," Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett told ABC Radio Australia. "This is, after all, a fish — let's keep it in perspective." The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) said the "guilty until proven innocent" approach was a knee jerk reaction to public concern that would harm the environment and would not protect swimmers.
– Australia has seen a big increase in shark attacks in recent years, including a record five deaths in 2012—all of which is bad news for swimmers and now for sharks as well. The state of Western Australia has put into place an aggressive new policy to track and kill sharks spotted anywhere in the general vicinity of swimmers, reports the Australian. It's a major shift from previous policy, which allowed such hunts only after attacks. "We will always put the lives and safety of beachgoers ahead of the shark," said Premier Colin Barnett. "This is, after all, a fish—let's keep it in perspective." The change, along with Barnett's it's-just-a-fish remark, has conservation groups seething. One condemns it as a "guilty until proven innocent" policy. NBC News notes that as recently as March, after a fatal attack, Barnett rejected the idea of changing the policy: "The ocean is the domain of the shark and we go there with a risk always." The subsequent deaths ramped up political pressure to do something, however.