NOUMÉA has lifted its ban on swimming and sailing along the coast, effective today (27 April).
Restrictions had been in place since 16 April, the day after a shark attacked a rower on the White Coast.
Residents are once again permitted to swim and engage in water sports anywhere within the municipality’s 300-metre coastal strip, including at Maître Islet, Duck Island, and Sainte-Marie, which were also previously affected by the restrictions.
However, the town hall has clarified that while these activities may resume, they do so “at the risk and peril of the users.”
The ban initially came into force 16 April, following a shark attack that seriously injured a 38-year-old va’a rower.
In response, a so-called “culling campaign” was carried out jointly by the Noumea and South Province authorities from 17–20 April.
During that operation, five tiger sharks and one bull shark were killed in the White Coast and Anse-Vata areas.
Earlier, at the end of February, a dozen sharks were killed after a wind sailor died following an attack in Anse-Vata.
These culling campaigns have been illegal since December 2023, when the administrative court, prompted by the environmental group EPLP (Together for the Planet), banned such practices.
Despite this ruling, the city of Nouméa and the provincial government proceeded with the killings, citing “precaution” as justification.
Source: Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes
