Shark Nets Are Catching the Wrong Species—And It's Nearly Wiping Them Out

As many as 90 percent of the animals snagged in nets designed to keep hungry sharks away from Australia's beaches were not from the targeted species.

Of the total 228 animals caught in the nets off beaches in New South Wales between 2022 and 2023, only 24 were sharks from target species—great white, tiger and bull sharks—according to data from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries.

The remaining 204 animals included 120 sharks, including great hammerhead sharks, whaler sharks and Australian angel sharks. The nets also snared 58 rays, 14 turtles, and 10 marine mammals, including dolphins and seals.

Of the animals caught, the data reveals that just over 25 percent were from a protected or threatened species, including the grey nurse shark, leatherback, green and loggerhead turtles, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and fur seals.

Many of these species have seen huge declines in their populations in recent years: Green sea turtles, for example, are classified as endangered, and are estimated to have experienced a 50 percent drop in their numbers over the past decade.

Only 37 percent of the animals that got stuck in the nets were released alive.

Entanglement is a major cause of death for marine animals, in shark nets and fishing gear. Animals trapped in nets or gear may drown if they can't reach the surface to breathe, or starve to death due to being unable to catch prey, NOAA explains. They may also be cut by the gear, causing lacerations that may lead to death from infections.

There are 51 sets of nets at beaches along the NSW coast, put out in the summer months between September and April each year, when the beaches see the greatest numbers of swimmers. Critics of the nets say that this near-century-old defense tactic is inefficient and harmful to other marine species, and that the government should pivot to only using other beach defense systems like drone surveillance, which allows lifeguards to monitor the waters from above.

"There are better ways of ensuing shark mitigation strategies to keep the community safe and shark nets don't do that," Paula Masselos, the Mayor of Waverley, a Sydney suburb, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"People need to be educated in the technology and how it works. They also need to be more aware that they are swimming in the environment of sharks and other sea creatures. We want to ensure the safety of the community first and foremost."

A spokesperson from the Department of Primary Industries told the Sydney Morning Herald that for now, no changes have been made to the net policy in NSW.

"At this stage, no decisions have been made about the future deployment of shark mesh nets. A decision will be made by the NSW government before the start of the 2023/24 swimming season and following the tender and council consultation processes," they said.

Newsweek has contacted the Department of Primary Industries for comment.

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