Kai Boyle toldNine News Perth he had been fishing for Samson with a friend at the East Fremantle boat ramp on Wednesday night when he reeled in the three-metre bull shark,the same species believed to have attacked the teen.
Two teens claim to have caught this bull shark in the Swan River on Wednesday night.Facebook
After spending more than an hour reeling the shark in,the 21-year-old posed for a photograph with the animal before setting it free.
But the catch was met with a mixed response on social media,prompting authorities to close beaches along the Swan River and environmentalists to voice their concerns.
The experienced fisherman toldNine News he had noticed a growing number of bull sharks in the river in recent years,but said his most recent catch was the largest he’d ever caught.
“I was like ‘yeah,this is a potential man eater’,” he toldNine News.
“When I hooked it,I realised how big it actually was.
“You can’t stop a big shark eating your bait.
“I honestly don’t think it’s the same shark and I do not agree with killing sharks at all or hurting sharks.”
Boyle branded the river a bull shark breeding ground,saying he believed it was time for the state’s Fisheries department to act.
“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,” he said.
The news comes after Premier Mark McGowan confirmed the state government was in the process of developing a swimming enclosure in the Swan River,where the 16-year-old was mauled on Saturday.
It also follows a rally at Coogee’s Ammunition Jetty on Thursday to stop land-based shark hunting.
The City of Cockburn council moved to place more restrictions on land-based shark fishing on Thursday amid an increase in the number of shark carcasses being mutilated and discarded on the city’s beaches.
The council had been mulling penalties for those caught using lines,hooks and berley,but had delayed making a decision while awaiting the outcome of a review by the state government.
On Thursday,the city cemented its plans to place harsher restrictions on the practice which would require fishers to cut the line and release the shark before “landing” it,preventing them from taking photographs with the animal for social media or face fines in the order of $500.
With Jesinta Burton.