With less than nine weeks until baited hooks could again be deployed in West Australian waters as part of the state government's shark kill zones, a documentary on the program is set to reignite debate over the controversial issue.
The state government is awaiting approval for the program to operate for a further three years, following a trial that ran for three months earlier this year.
The Environmental Protection Authority is expected to finalise its report into the proposal by early September.
The kill zones involve baited hooks on drum lines set one kilometre from shore on selected WA beaches.
Any great white, bull and tiger sharks longer than three metres long are shot dead as part of the program designed to reduce the risk of shark attack to the public.
The program was prompted by seven deaths as a result of sharks in WA in three years.
Sea Shepherd has created a documentary titled The Shark Cull and the first of a number of screenings around the country took place on Sunday night.
While the film tells the story of how the drum line program operates from one side of the debate with little presentation of scientific background, the graphic images of the way the program was carried out seem sure to upset viewers.
The documentary filmed and directed by videographer Tim Watters, features not-previously-seen footage of the shark cull from the eyes of Sea Shepherd's boat crew.
The documentary includes footage of conservationists swimming with a tiger shark that was released by Fisheries officers in order to help it swim and regain its strength, other sharks falling straight to the ocean floor after being released alive, images of sharks struggling on hooks and a dead shark on the ocean floor with multiple gunshot wounds in the top part of its body.
There are also images of the operator of the South West kill zones using a knife to cut through heads of hooked sharks rather than unhooking them.
Also featuring in the film is Sharon Burden, the mother of Kyle Burden, who was killed by a shark while surfing in Bunker Bay and the Craig Moss, the inventor of shark mitigation alternative the Eco Shark Barrier.
While a spokesman for the state government told Fairfax Media it had not been invited to participate in the documentary, the managing director of Sea Shepherd Australia said attempts were made to involve the government and that it declined to meet or discuss the issue.
"All avenues were looked at in attempting to contact the South West contractor, however Sea Shepherd was unable to liaise with [him] to take part in the documentary," Sea Shepherd's Jeff Hansen said.
Mr Hansen said the documentary was about "bringing transparency to an extremely unpopular public policy that brought world-wide shame to Western Australia".
The documentary was screened at Luna cinemas in Leederville and a number of other locations around the country on Sunday night.
All proceeds from the screenings of the documentary will go towards Sea Shepherd's efforts to remove drum lines and shark nets within Australia's waters.
