Petition to end shark nets tabled in Parliament

A petition organised by Central Coast group the Friends of Kurrawyba, calling for the permanent removal of shark mesh from NSW beaches, has been tabled in the NSW Legislative Council with a response due on September 10.

“We thank Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann for tabling our petition on August 6 and we look forward to hearing in September the government’s justification for deciding to return these ‘nets of death’ to our beaches,” spokesperson Izabela Sajdok said.

The NSW Government has decided to return shark nets to 51 NSW beaches from September 1 and remove them a month earlier than usual at the end of March.

“Premier Minns’ statement that he needs more evidence that the alternatives to shark nets will provide at-scale swimmer safety before he agrees to permanently remove this archaic technology is a nonsense,” Sajdok said.

“He and Fisheries Minister Tara Moriarty need to focus on the irrefutable evidence they do have, from their own department, that shark nets kill and injure threatened and endangered marine species while doing absolutely nothing to protect swimmers.”

Sajdok said the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program 2023/24 Annual Performance Report showed that of the 116 marine creatures caught in nets on Central Coast beaches only eight were target sharks (Great white sharks in this instance with not one Tiger shark caught).

That left 108 non-target species including five critically endangered Grey Nurse sharks, four endangered Leatherback turtles and one Loggerhead turtle and seven vulnerable species – two Great Hammerhead sharks, four Green turtles and one Humpback whale.

“Protected/non-target species were also trapped: a Comm Dolphin and a Hawksbill turtle,” Sajdok said.

“Meanwhile, the Australian Shark Incident Database shows that the last fatal incident for the whole of Australia was in 2023 at Ethel Beach on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula.”

There have been two injuries in NSW this year, according to the database.

The government’s shark program costs $25M each year including the nets and other measures such as smart drumlines, drones and education.

Friends of Kurrawyba say the percentage of that budget spent on nets should be diverted into an effective and marine-friends drone program.

“Communities up and down the Coast are opposed to shark nets,” Sajdok said.

“We know they don’t work and we will continue to campaign for their permanent removal.”