Every now and then I bring Remy into the Humane World for Animals office, and it doesn’t take long for everyone to gather around him. He has become loved by the local community, with regular visitors always asking if he's about. Remy has a way of winning people over. It’s...
Shark nets will be returned to 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong today, in a move that Humane World for Animals Australia’s marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck said is “like bringing a typewriter to a coding class” when compared with the precision of the NSW Government’s recently expanded, high-tech drone monitoring program.
Shark nets are 150m-long fishing nets that have been deployed to beaches along the state’s coastline every summer since 1937 and are responsible for the drowning death of hundreds of harmless marine animals each year. Earlier this year, the Minns Government unveiled a $120 million dollar Shark Management Strategy which is funding a substantial expansion of the state’s drone fleet, with 300,000 surveillance hours scheduled, making it the most extensive aerial shark monitoring program in the world.
“Returning outdated and ineffective shark nets to beaches when we have cutting-edge drones flying a few hundred feet above the water is not only ridiculous, but also actually counter-productive to swimmer safety,” said Mr Chlebeck. “Shark nets entangle and kill animals like dolphins, turtles and rays, whose distress, death and decomposition attracts sharks nearer to shore. Shark nets aren’t boundaries; they are beacons for sharks. It’s disappointing to see the NSW Government make such advances on shark safety with their science-backed drone program, only to take another step backward for swimmers and animals by unfurling useless and potentially dangerous shark nets in our waters yet again.”
The community’s strong preference for an end to shark nets has been clear for many years, evidenced by government surveys and three local councils in Sydney opting into an offer from the Department of Primary Industries for a trial removal of shark nets from select beaches within their area during the 2025/26 summer. This was echoed just last week as Central Coast Council adopted a motion at its general meeting on 25 August to urgently write to the state government requesting that a shark net not be returned to Terrigal Beach, in response to fears for the safety of a local, beloved seal.
Fast facts on shark nets:
- Shark nets are deployed at 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong each summer, with the program dating back to 1937.
- Shark nets are not barriers. Very different to the shark enclosures at harbour beaches, the shark nets at issue are 150 metre-long fishing gill nets installed 500 metres off ocean beaches, designed to ensnare sharks.
- Shark nets do not reduce the risk of shark bite. Sharks can easily swim around them and in fact, 40% of sharks caught in them are caught on the beach side of the net.
- 37 shark bites have occurred at beaches with shark nets. The last three shark incidents on Sydney’s Northern Beaches all occurred in the vicinity of shark nets.
- 90% of animals caught in shark nets are not target shark species and this includes Critically Endangered wildlife.
- Photographs obtained by freedom of information applications show countless harmless animals caught in shark nets with large bites taken from them, which shows that they act as bait.
Humane World for Animals Australia supports a modern, non-lethal approach to shark bite risk mitigation.
