They think it's rouge sharks or migration changes that have Great white sharks eating surfers/divers in Australia, California, etc.. give me a break, when people go on these excursions to dive with sharks, all sharks, and study them and tag them and count them and decide if they are endangered or not, the way they attract their "specimens of study" is to chum and hook up big chunks of fish and draw them to a boat. Sharks have been in the oceans for hundreds of millions of years, they are not super successful by being stupid. They associate more and more to humans and boats and food . Easy equation if you are a shark; object on the surface, lively creature flailing around , blood and or scent in the water ,or even just some spasmotic motions , "hey, it's time to eat"
Sharks prefer fat ,soft , blubbery critters like seals, walruses, and whales but will eat anything that imitates food. I saw a juvenile Black-tip (4 footer) eat a coors light beer can next to a jetty once . I guess it looked like chunk of mullet bobbing around half submerged, to him.
Bottom Line "leave the sharks the **** alone" That goes for the rays as well ,they all have a razor sharp fin growing out of their spine midway down their tail. It can take a hand off before you realize it has happened. Even an expert like Steve Erwin (crocodile hunter) found out the hard way..
A million sharks are born every day just in the Gulf of Mexico, most are taken by predation but sharks will be in the oceans long after the homo-sapien has ceased to exist. We are not going to run out of sharks no matter how much we "help" them. The vast majority of all creatures on this Earth have their "act" together far better than us Supreme Beings..
If you need to face your fears, jump out of an airplane or something, hike a jungle around the Amazon, domesticate a rhinoserus, charm a cobra, get married,,, Mother Nature knows what to do!

Is the Department of Fisheries making sure the sharks don't exceed their legal limit of human?

Oh yeah, it was legislated and inacted but no real way to enforce the measure , there were size and creed discrepencies, inshore/ offshore problems , 2 mile limit , international waters , commmercial versus personal use, science couldn't come up with reliable gender numbers, license duration conflicts, establishing open and closed seasons, supply and demand was argued, nutritional data unconfirmed, people as a dietary supplement questionable, wild caught or farm raised, vitamin supplemented or organic, even fiber content of garments consumed. It was a total mess and the issue is under further review , a committee is appointed and consultants will be contracted but my view is "it's dead in the water"

The shark population has been decimated ... mostly for shark fin soup.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_fin_soup

Well, of course its the sharks fault............if you dont wish to be eaten then dont go where they go to feed

you are absolutely right and it's not only the sharks . What people have done to the fishes is far worse than what we have done to the forests.. What they do to sharks for some soup is comparable for someone to cut off you feet and hands and leaving you in the middle of the desert.