( CNN ) -- The latest string of fatal shark attacks in Western Australia is creating a climate of fear that could haphazardly undo a very important environmental law that protects great white sharks . Last weekend , 24-year-old surfer Ben Linden was attacked by a great white near Perth , becoming the fifth fatality off that coast in the past 10 months . In response , the Western Australia Fishing Minister , Norman Moore , promised to write the federal government `` to know if there has been any update on the status of the white sharks and the sustainability level at which the Federal Government will lift protection . '' If Mr. Moore has his way , hundreds if not thousands of sharks will be killed in Australia . I have a problem with that . Yes , my heart goes out to the victims ' families and friends who are mourning the losses of these tragic events , and I in no way downplay the pain and sadness an attack has on an entire community . Shark attacks : Is 'Jaws ' back ? I know , as I lost my leg and nearly my life after being attacked by a large tiger shark here in Hawaii . I do feel that these predators play a very important role in the health of our oceans , and I strongly oppose any type of shark hunting or culling program . Let me explain . By fishing for the great white shark , the bycatch will surely be a bunch of other shark species that have never had a history of munching on people . They did a shark culling program in Hawaii in the 1960s and early '70s , and 4,668 sharks were killed . Only 554 were the targeted species , the tiger shark . If a judge put one criminal along with eight innocent people on death row for a murder , would that be justice ? And what if the guilty criminal was found guilty only because he belonged to the same race as the suspect in the crime ? This type of rationale does n't make sense , and it surely does n't do anything to solve the crime . White sharks , by most scientific studies , have been shown not to be territorial . The shark that attacked Ben Linden is very probably hundreds of miles away , quite possibly in the waters of another country . The odds of a culling program capturing the same animal responsible for any one of the attacks is very slim . Sharks , the dominant predators in the sea , by nature need to be on the move to be efficient eaters . The element of surprise is their weapon of choice , and if they hang in the same area for too long the fish get spooked and they lose out on an easy meal . Moving ensures a more efficient way of consuming food . Great whites tracked off of Australia 's northwestern coast have been known to travel to South Africa , and have been recorded traveling more than 12,000 miles in just nine months . China bans shark fin soup from banquets . In Australia , the great white is protected by both domestic and international law , having been cited as `` vulnerable '' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1996 . In 2002 , with input from scientists , environmentalists , fisheries , and fishermen , Australia 's government initiated the White Shark Recovery Plan . This law took a long time to be put into place , and undoing it would jeopardize the marine ecosystem . Any marine biologist will tell you that a healthy shark population equals a healthy marine ecosystem . Sharks predate dinosaurs , and millions of years of evolution have positioned them in a critical and vital role as an apex predator . Predator removal can cause a cascading effect that destabilizes the entire marine food web and , in turn , our oceans . Great whites are slow to mature and have very few offspring , so any type of culling program , even if done for a limited amount of time , would put their existence in peril . From what I have learned about Ben Linden , his entire life revolved around the ocean . So does mine . And so do those of millions of other people across the globe who surf , fish , swim , dive and feel more comfortable in water than on land . The ocean is a complex web of marine life , with many species being driven to extinction year after year . For humans and sharks to coexist is for us to respect their place on Earth . Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mike Coots .
one have died in shark attacks off Hawaii in early '70s , says Mike Coots . As a shark-attack survivor myself , I feel these losses keenly , Coots says . Coots : Still , a healthy shark population equals a healthy marine ecosystem . Sharks law protects the great white , and that law must stay , Facebook/CNNOpinion says .