In Hass, we had to write a letter to our local MP about an issue that we care about. This term we were focusing on citizen and citizenship and more specifically active citizenship, by creating our letters we were active members of society and trying to get something fixed that we care about.

here is the letter

Mr. Tallentire

Unit 1 314 spencer rd.

Thornlie                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                               Jackson Armstrong

                                                                                                                                 

Dear Mr. Tallentire,

I am Jackson Armstrong, a year 8 at All saints college. I am writing to you because of the Shark culling project over east in NSW and Queensland and the traps and drum lines they set for the sharks.

I’m sure you know how important sharks are to marine ecosystems. The shark culling program over east is both inefficient and ineffective. In total there have been over 6k shark deaths due to this problem since 2012 at the start of the project. The shark culling program has caused other species to be killed by the drums set for the program. Over 1,000 other marine creatures have been killed by it.

This project has been attempted by other countries in the world before it is not just an Australian idea. However, they have seen the faults in this project and stopped, many credible professionals are also arguing for the shark culling to be stopped. Many petitions and influential people are calling for the stop and it isn’t like there aren’t other solutions that don’t involve killing many other innocent species along with sharks. The shark culling has also been proven not to change the number of shark attacks on beaches.

I understand that sharks are a threat and that some action needs to be taken but the installation of drumlines is not the answer.  There are multiple shark conservation Australian agencies and petitions that are opposing it and arguing that something needs to be done but since the start, nothing has happened, and the murdering of sharks is continuing.

Not all sharks should be seen as a threat there are only 12 species of sharks that cause human injuries out of the hundreds of shark species and only 3 shark species that are responsible for fatal injuries, the tiger shark, bull shark, and great white shark. They don’t all need to be persecuted for only 12 species of harmful sharks

The Australian Marne Conservation agency has said “Sharks are long-lived, slow to mature, and late to mature. This means that any mass exploitation will take them a long time to recover.” And many more agencies and renowned professionals in Marine biology agree that it must stop.

Sharks are one of the most important species in the Marine ecosystems and any substantial damage will cause severe damage to the ecosystems which is why the rest of the world has stopped and why the great barrier reef is protected from the shark culling policy. Without sharks, the eco-systems would be destroyed, and the food chain would be significantly affected. More people die from attacks on farm animals than sharks from unprovoked attacks.

I would greatly appreciate your support and help in this matter. I would argue for you to oppose the shark culling policy at the next government meeting, as I said before there are alternatives like implementing underwater detectors and having the appropriate shark netting at the beaches, but not installing drumlines to kill the marine life.