The approval for the state government's proposal for drum line program will lead to loss of up to 120 tons of tiger sharks over next three years, according to estimates printed in the Department of Premier and Cabinet's public environmental review. Public comments have been sought about the review after releasing it on Monday, which is part of the Environmental Protection Authority's assessment process.

As per estimates of state government, of the almost 1,000 sharks to be caught until April 2017, 25 are likely to be great whites, 900 tiger sharks and a handful bull sharks.

The proposal highlights very low risk posed to tiger sharks because of the program, whereas it has been suggested that other sharks will face negligible risks because of the same. "Assuming high rates of release mortality, an annual mortality of approximately 40 tons per year for three consecutive years would be possible for the proposal to...represent a low risk to the Western Australian tiger shark population", said the report.

The report added that the amount of 45 tons of sharks expected to be captured each year is much smaller than the amount previously removed by commercial fishing.

It is very less likely to catch more than 10 great whites each year. This number is way less than that was estimated to have previously been caught each year as bycatch by commercial fishing operations in Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria, said the report.

The West Australian newspaper has reported that WA officials held talks with representatives of the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks board, which supports the use of nets and drumlines to reduce the number of shark attacks on a coast that was once dangerous to them.