Drumlines preferred, but State Government wins debate
Shark nets are back on the beaches for the summer, despite the Northern Beaches Council’s petitioning for other means of shark mitigation.
In May this year, council’s interim Chief Executive Officer Lousie Kerr wrote to NSW Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty to express concern over the harm to wildlife caused by shark meshing, as has been the council’s position since 2021. Ms Kerr expressed that SMART drumlines, which snare a shark with bait which is then tagged and released unharmed, and drones were council’s preferred method of shark mitigation.
Mayor Sue Heins told Peninsula Living Pittwater: “We support programs and technology that result in lower shark numbers to keep our beach users safe, while reducing non-target mortality.”
“We have previously requested that alternative shark mitigation strategies be deployed instead of shark meshing,” Mayor Heins added.
In August, when confirming the meshing program would once again go ahead this year, Minister Moriarty said that nets were fitted with acoustic devices designed to deter marine animals from interacting with them.
According to the Government’s own Shark Meshing Program statistics, 89 per cent of 228 animals reported entangled in New South Wales nets were non-target species (everything except white, bull and tiger sharks).
Regional group leader for the Animal Justice League Northern Beaches, Susan Sorensen, said given there were 30 SMART drumlines on the Beaches, nets were not needed.
“We have three drones, three listening stations and tagging of target sharks,” Ms Sorensen said. “They can listen to them and see where they are situated.”
Ms Sorensen said the buck stops with Minister Moriarty. “We’ve got all this other technology, but they seem frightened something might happen if they remove the nets,” she told Peninsula Living Pittwater. “But it has been proven time and time again that those nets aren’t doing anything… because the target sharks are often found on the shore side of the net.”
Ms Sorensen said the nets provided a false sense of security for swimmers. “Any animal can swim over, around or under.”
Last summer, 21 hammerheads, turtles and bottlenose dolphins died after getting trapped in nets on the Northern Beaches.
“We are just allowing these nets to kill whatever they want..(and animals suffer) a horrible death by drowning,” Ms Sorensen lamented.
Ms Moriarty said the government would ‘continue to work with councils to assess options for different future strategies’.