Shark nets and Sydney beaches have a long and complicated history, and the Minns government’s recent decision to keep using them across 51 NSW beaches this summer has just sparked a massive debate.
For years now, shark nets have long been a source of conflict between environmentalists and authorities, with the harm and death they cause to marine life (aka turtles, dolphins, whales) to be serious and irrefutable. However, state premier Chris Minns has said that right now, alternative shark detection technologies aren’t good enough to replace nets as a permanent solution in NSW.
The first shark net on a Sydney beach was rolled out in 1937, and since then there has only been one shark attack fatality on a netted beach – but experts say that they aren’t actually as effective as we’ve been told to believe, with the risks of nets for local ecosystems far outweighing the possibility of deterring a shark attack.
Between 2022 and 2023, 90 per cent of the marine animals caught in NSW nets were a ‘non-target species’. 228 animals got entangled, and in Sydney, no tiger or great whites were caught all year. Marine biologists have said that shark nets actually don’t deter sharks from approaching swimmers, because they can just swim under, over or around the netting – while animals like dolphins get caught, tangled and drown.
Statistics show that only 37 per cent of the animals caught in nets along the NSW coast get out alive.
Most experts are in agreement that shark netting is an “out-dated” and an almost century-old technology that needs to go, with extensive research showing that there is no real evidence that shark nets are the reason for plummeting shark attack fatalities in NSW. Rather, scientists say that drastically lowered shark populations, better beach patrols and medical responses, and scientifically-backed technology are all the reason for less fatal shark attacks than Sydneysiders saw 150 years ago.
Right now in NSW, nets are currently removed to allow for the whale migration period, but they will be back as of September 1, with authorities saying they will be fitted out with acoustics designed to deter marine mammals.
The Minns government has said that shark nets will roll out on beaches from Newcastle to Wollongong in time for the summer season, with Bondi on the list.