Kelly Slater defends call for Réunion Island shark cull

Professional surfer Kelly Slater has justified his calls for a shark cull on Réunion Island after being attacked by his fans for his opinion.

Slater, an 11-time World Surfing Champion, has surprised many with his about-face turn calling for shark culls given his well-publicised views on ocean conversation.

He has accused French authorities of not doing enough to prevent the aggressive threat of bull sharks.

There have been 20 shark attacks on Réunion since 2011. Eight of those were fatal.

"I have been an environmental activist and voice for more campaigns than I can remember," Slater wrote on Instagram.

"My heart is in the right place but now I am being vehemently attacked by the people I have most identified with for the majority of my life."

"My comments were in reaction to another death of a kid following his passion."

The caption accompanied a text-block posted by Slater outlining why he is supporting regular shark culls on Reunion.

Slater's call follows the death of Alexandre Naussance, who was attacked last Tuesday and died from blood loss after being mauled on the leg.

Laurent Chardard lost a foot and an arm after damage to a protective net enclosure allowed a bull shark into the surf zone in September.

Réunion, a French administrative region, lies east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, approximately 175km south-west of Mauritius.

The country has banned hunting sharks for food since 1999 due to concerns their flesh is contaminated with ciguatera - a dangerous toxin that causes vomiting, nausea and death, in rare cases.

Réunion's government claim to be attempting to tackle the issue by culling approximately 100 sharks a year.

Speaking with surfing magazine Stab, Slater justified his calls for a shark cull in Réunion and not northern NSW.

"Ballina seems to be seasonal and migratory sharks, but I don’t know that for sure," Slater said.

"Reunion has had a far greater number of attacks and a higher percentage of deaths. And it seems to have been something specifically created by human interference from what Jeremy has told me. There is some unnatural order occurring there that doesn’t happen nearby in Mauritius or Rodriguez Island."

"The sheer number of attacks makes no sense to the sharks’ natural feeding patterns."