Shark nets will be retained on New South Wales beaches despite widespread opposition to what environmentalists say is an “ineffective” safety measure.
The state’s premier, Chris Minns, confirmed that the government will install shark nets across 51 beaches from Newcastle to Wollongong in time for the summer season. The shark meshing program will run alongside other shark detection technology.
“Last year was the first year when we had … nets as well as drone technology and other emerging trends for shark detection and warning systems,” Minns said on Monday. “Now, we’re not in a position at the moment where we can say hand on heart for this coming summer that these new technologies are as good a replacement as shark nets for Sydney beaches.”
The Labor leader said removing shark nets in Sydney is a “good ambition … but we’ve got a ways to go when it comes to that shark detection technology”.
“I don’t think the work will be done in enough time for summer, particularly when you consider the nets need to be rolled out in September,” he said.
The NSW agriculture minister, Tara Moriarty, said the government would continue to work with councils to assess options for different strategies in future, “but for this summer we are sticking with the complement of nets, SMART drumlines, drones and listening stations.”
The decision defies this month’s Department of Primary Industries report, which found almost 90% of marine animals caught in shark nets off NSW beaches over the past year were non-target species such as turtles, rays and dolphins.
In Sydney, the nets did not catch a single tiger or white shark during the 2022-23 summer season, according to the DPI’s Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program data.
It also counters calls from councils along the state’s coast to abolish the use of nets, which have been rolled out annually since the end of the second world war.
The mayor of Waverley, Paula Masselos, who oversees some of Sydney’s most famous beaches including Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte, said the state government must embrace 21st-century technologies that are more effective, such as surveillance drones and Smart drumlines.
“The bycatch is unacceptable,” she said of shark nets. “Our community has moved on and it’s time the government moved on. Developing technology is there and we should be across that.”
The nets are in place for six months of the year, from September until the end of the summer season. They do not shield swimmers from sharks, but are believed to act as a shark deterrent.
“They are 150 metres long and 6 metres high and set at a depth of 10 metres. Bondi is 1km wide,” Masselos said. “They don’t do anything.”
She called upon the Minns government to meet face-to-face with key councils and create a comprehensive shark management strategy.
The Central Coast council said its opposition to shark mesh nets had not changed and that it had not been informed of the DPI’s decision to retain the nets.
Dr Vanessa Pirotta from Macquarie University’s Marine Predator Research Group said Smart drumline technology should be used as an alternative to shark nets.
“These provide a more targeted approach to managing potential shark interactions with humans. These also provide scientists with an opportunity to gather scientific information from captured animals that are later released,” she said. “The good news is these smarter technologies are already in water off Sydney.”
Traditional shark nets are no longer used in Cape Town, Hawaii and Florida. The issue is historically contentious in Australia, with debates over the use of shark nets going back to their inception in 1937.
A report on shark bite incidents between 1937 and 2008 found that of the 38 shark attacks recorded in the state, 24 of them took place at netted beaches, with 14 injuries.
In February last year, British expat Simon Nellist was killed by a 3-metre great white shark at Little Bay in Sydney’s Randwick council area. The diving instructor had voiced his opposition to shark nets.
Months later, two humpback whales were removed from a shark net off Kirra beach in Queensland less than 72 hours apart.
At the time, Dr Leonardo Guida, a shark specialist at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said reliance on nets was “beyond a joke now”.
Animal Justice party MP Emma Hurst said the premier’s decision to put shark nets back in the water was “cowardly” and urged the government to implement alternatives.
Bondi surfer and author Derek Reilly surfs throughout the year, whether shark nets are in place or not.
“The question is whether or not society can live with the gruesome bycatch,” he said.
