Gregory Mark Sharp fined $400 for stealing great white shark tag and setting off fake warnings around Albany

The commercial fisherman who stole a great white shark monitoring tag and set off fake shark warnings around Albany has walked away with a $400 fine. Gregory Mark Sharp, 48, was set to go trial in March after pleading not guilty to stealing an acoustic shark monitoring tag in the Manypeaks area on August 12. However he changed his plea to guilty in the Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday and received a $400 fine. Each acoustic shark tag costs about $500. Police found the acoustic tag, which had been fitted to a shark by the Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development as part of their shark tagging and monitoring program, while executing a search warrant at a property in Kalgan on October 1. Police prosecutor Alan Dean said Sharp used the tag to set off acoustic shark monitoring network receivers in Albany waters on two occasions between August 13 and September 4. On August 13, the Albany Advertiser reported that a great white shark had been detected near Middleton Beach, setting off the Ellen Cove receiver at 4.46pm and again at 4.53pm. The Advertiser’s Facebook post reached more than 26,000 people. On September 4, a great white shark was detected by the Ellen Cove receiver at 7.56am. Sharp told the court on Thursday that the acoustic tag fell into his boat after he inadvertently caught the great white shark. The shark was released alive. Sharp said he kept the tag and put it near acoustic receivers to see if it was still working. He did not return the tag to DPIRD because he thought it was broken, he told the court. There are 35 acoustic receivers at key locations around WA, providing real-time shark alerts, which are relayed to the public by SharkSmart and Surf Life Saving WA. Sharks are fitted with acoustic tags that emit a sequence of low-frequency “clicks”, which give each tag an audible ID number. These unique signals can be detected and recorded when the shark swims within range of the shark monitoring receivers. Two of the satellite-linked receivers are situated in Albany waters — one at Ellen Cove and one at Frenchman Bay. Sharp told the court he had not intended to cause any fear or harm. He was fined $400 and ordered to pay $259 in court costs. Speaking after Thursday’s sentencing, DPIRD Statewide operations acting director Graeme Meinema said the stealing offence had put the public at increased risk. “While this case was ultimately a police matter, the tag was from a previously tagged white shark adding risk to water users,” Mr Meinema said. “DPIRD was able to assist police in detecting and identifying the offender. “DPIRD is also continually involved in tagging operations to help increase the number of white sharks that can be detected by WA’s shark monitoring network.”