A Western Australian company is anticipating a surge in global sales following preliminary results of state government-funded research into the effectiveness of shark deterrents.
A Western Australian company is anticipating a surge in global sales following preliminary results of state government-funded research into the effectiveness of shark deterrents.
Following scientific tests of a number of products, Shark Shield was found to have a “significant effect” in deterring a range of shark species, including tiger sharks and great white sharks.
Preliminary results from research carried out by the University of Western Australia released today also showed other deterrents such as long underwater sounds and bubble curtain arrays did not fare as well.
Shark Shield managing director Lindsay Lyon, who moved the company to WA after buying it from South Australian developers in 2013, said while today’s announcement about the effectiveness of Shark Shield was welcome, he anticipated that once findings appeared in peer-reviewed journals this would catalyse a boom in sales globally.
To give a size of the market Shark Shield is operating in Mr Lyon estimated if every surfer in the world bought one Shark Shield product those sales would be worth around $15 billion.
“I think this research is a major tipping for the Shark Shield brand,” he said.
“The problem Shark Shield’s faced over the past 15 years is ‘prove to me it works, prove to me it works and then prove to me it works’.
“And so what the UWA research does is it puts another stake in the ground that says well it does work and it works really, really well and the myth that it attracts sharks is once again proven scientifically to not be correct.
“I think a lot of people don’t understand the strength of the University of Western Australia Oceans Institute. Shaun Collin (who led the research) is the professor who wrote the entry for sharks and rays in the Oxford Encyclopaedia on animals. He has and his organisation and his department have worldwide credibility.”
While the state government’s campaign to find methods that deter sharks has sought to provide assurances and safety to everyone who swims along Western Australia’s expansive shoreline, the market for Shark Shield products is more niche.
Mr Lyon said Shark Shield’s products were aimed at those at highest risk of shark attacks; spear fishers, divers and surfers.
Shark Shield has three products tailored to each, all costing about $650 each, and it is developing an updated surfing product, also being tested by UWA, which is due to come out next summer with a $500 price tag.
Mr Lyon said since his business partner Amanda Wilson relocated to Florida last year to build Shark Shield’s US presence sales had grown 300 per cent from a small base.
He said the WA market currently represented around 35 per cent of the company’s revenue, but had remained stable while east coast and international markets grew.
Since 2008 the state government has allocated more than $28 million on shark hazard mitigation strategies, including almost $1.9 million for eight research projects, with other funding going towards aerial patrols and increased Surf Life Saving WA resources.
