Today we’re talking about shark nets, a hot topic in Australia that’s been creating quite the buzz recently. What are they, why do we have them, and why are they causing us concern? Let’s discuss. 

Shark nets were brought in as a measure to protect beachgoers from sharks and shark bites, and work by deploying a mesh net that is designed to “intercept target sharks…to reduce the chance of an interaction”. In New South Wales and Queensland, the nets range between 124m and 180m in length, and are around 6m tall. They are deployed approximately 500m off-shore, in water that’s around 10m deep. The diagrams below help to visualise what that looks like, but it’s leaving a whole lot of space for sharks to travel around and bypass these nets.

Credit: Sea Shepherd Australia.

In NSW, nets are installed each year to overlap with summer and the peak of swimming season, and in Queensland, shark nets remain deployed year-round and are coupled with the use of drumlines (baited hooks which attract sharks) in an effort to cover a wider area. Some shark nets have been in place every single year since 1937(!).

Now the goal of these nets is to reduce shark interactions by entangling sharks and preventing them from getting to the beach. The target shark species in NSW are White, Tiger and Bull sharks, and in Queensland are the same three plus Dusky Whalers, Grey Reef, Blacktip and Australian Blacktip sharks. Sharks become entangled, and the nets are checked to remove any captured species. The frequency of inspections changed this year from every 3 days to every 2 days to increase the chance of entangled species surviving. If target species are found alive, they are tagged and released in NSW, and are killed in Queensland if they are outside of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. With only 36% of the creatures caught in the summer of 2023/2024 surviving, the use of shark nets to protect beachgoers from shark interactions is a shark culling programme by another name.

Why are we concerned?

It comes down to three things: the nets are ineffective, indiscriminate, and are fuelling the collapse of already-vulnerable shark populations.

Using a net that is <200m in length to protect beaches which can span up to tens of kilometres, is not going to be capable of protecting people from shark interactions. Research has confirmed as much,, and has even demonstrated that the only way such mitigation efforts could work is if local shark populations are reduced to levels of local extinction. 

Despite the fact that the nets are ineffective at preventing shark interactions with beachgoers, they are still essentially fishing gear left unattended for days at a time, capturing anything and everything that passes their way. They are indiscriminate and result in high levels of mortality for both target shark species, and non-target bycatch. Across the shark nets deployed in NSW in summer 2023-24, a total of 255 species were entangled, but only 15 of these were the actual target species1, and the rest were a range of turtles, dolphins, rays, fish species and other sharks not targeted by the programme.

Building on this, we know that shark species are keystone species essential to ecosystem survival, and that shark populations globally are in decline. Of the seven species targeted by the shark net programmes, six have declining populations, and five are listed as either ‘vulnerable’ or ‘endangered’ by the IUCN. In 2019, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal concluded, based on ‘overwhelming scientific evidence’, that the lethal component of the Queensland Shark Control Program does not reduce the risk of shark interactions, and is having a serious impact on Queensland’s threatened marine species.

What’s the solution?

Here’s the kicker - both NSW and Queensland Governments have already invested in new, scientifically-backed technologies to help protect swimmers and surfers from shark interactions. This includes the use of drones piloted by Surf Life Saving patrollers, shark tagging and acoustic monitoring mechanisms, and improved education for communities. These methods combined have been proven to be highly effective at their job, and non-harmful to our marine life.

So, should we continue to use these outdated methods that are woefully ineffective, target vulnerable shark species and capture more unintended marine life than anything else? We think not. We wait with baited breath to see if the shark nets will be deployed in NSW once more this coming September. 

Written by Charlotte Hansford