Some beaches in areas of New Caledonia are closed to swimming and the authorities have begun shark culling off the capital, Nouméa, after a fatal attack in the popular tourist spot – prompting a legal challenge to stop the operation and reigniting debate over public safety and marine conservation.
The culling operation began on 23 February, after a man from New Caledonia riding a wing foil in a recreational area was attacked and killed. Preliminary investigations indicate the victim was attacked by a tiger shark that measured at least three metres.
The cull targets tiger and bull sharks in off Nouméa’s coastline, which is heavily used for swimming, boating and water sports by residents and tourists.
The authorities said the operation was necessary to “protect human lives” in the face of increasing threats from sharks. Swimming and water-based activities outside protected areas have been banned along a 300-metre coastal strip, with the restrictions due to remain in place until the end of the culling campaign on Wednesday.
Shark risk management has emerged as a sensitive issue across the French Pacific territory, where local elections are due to be held this month.
The mayor of Nouméa, Sonia Lagarde, has defended the policy , rejecting the term “cull” in favour of “regulation” at a council meeting on 25 February.
“When you have sharks of exceptional size approaching the coast, the question of regulation has to be asked,” Lagarde said. “The danger is there.”
On Monday, a court in Nouméa was due to consider an application from the marine conservation organisation Ensemble Pour La Planète (EPLP) to stop the shark cull.
“No new independent scientific studies demonstrate that shark culls reduce the risk of attacks,” the organisation said, adding that the targeted species are legally protected in the waters off Nouméa.
EPLP succeeded in a similar court challenge to a shark cull in 2023. The local authorities launched shark culls after series of attacks, including the fatal attack of an Australian tourist in February 2023. The operation captured 127 sharks, mostly tiger sharks, but the court later ordered the authorities to stop the cull, describing it as “disproportionate”.
Since the new cull started, seven tiger sharks and one bull shark have been caught, the authorities said. Sharks measuring under 2.1 metres in length are being released.
Lagarde said the operation was necessary based on what she described as a sharp increase in shark sightings close to shore, adding that large sharks were now being observed in areas used daily for swimming and surfing.
Lagarde also argued that alternative measures such as permanent drone surveillance or additional exclusion nets were too costly and technically complex.
“New Caledonia is not Australia. These systems are extremely expensive, and we simply cannot afford them,” she said.
The main pro-independence coalition has condemned the culling operation, and called for non-lethal prevention measures, including enhanced surveillance and public information.
Aile Tikoure, from the civil society group Nyiimié kââ, which brought together mostly young people from southern island of Grande Terre, protested against the cull to highlight the Indigenous Kanak relationship with the marine environment. On Friday, the collective staged a demonstration outside Nouméa’s city hall, calling for the authorities to stop the cull, and said that further actions could follow in the coming days.
“Our origins bind us to sharks,” Tikoure said. “They are considered ancestral species.”
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