HSI has campaigned for some time for the removal of shark nets and baited drumlines from Australian waters. We believe that this is an outdated and ineffective method of protection for swimmers. As the summer season arrives, we are calling on the NSW and Queensland Governments to remove shark nets, to ensure protection of our threatened marine life.

The target species for shark control programs are the great white shark, tiger shark and bull sharks. However due to the great white shark being a protected species, it must by law be released if found alive in shark nets.

More information on shark nets

Australia has shark control programs in operation in two states: New South Wales and Queensland. Shark control programs of various forms are also used in South Africa, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Hawaii.

• Shark control programs in Queensland and New South Wales use large nets and baited drumlines set off ocean beaches, with the aim of culling sharks and reducing their populations to lower the likelihood of shark attacks on humans.
• In NSW the shark control program relies solely on beach meshing, while Queensland employs both meshing and baited drumlines. Drumlines consist of a float or series of floats moored by an anchor with one or more baited hooks attached to a cable connecting the anchor and the float.
• Baited drumlines have been suspected of increasing the likelihood of contact between sharks and humans because they attract sharks to the baited hooks and to marine animals that have been caught on the hooks. Nets have also been criticised for this reason, since sharks feed on marine animals that have become tangled in the nets.
• In NSW 51 beaches covering approximately 200 kilometres of coastline between Newcastle and Wollongong are netted. In QLD a mixture of nets and baited drumlins are in place on 84 beaches along the coastline.
• Contrary to popular belief, shark nets are not impenetrable barriers and do not prevent sharks from entering the beach side of the nets. They are not designed to exclude sharks from the beach. In NSW 35% of sharks killed in nets were caught on the beach side of the nets.
• Many of the marine species caught in the nets and drumlines are recognised as threatened species by the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as well as Queensland and NSW laws, including the grey nurse shark, marine turtles, dugongs, seals and whales. The continuation of the QLD and NSW shark control programs negatively impacts threatened species and could inhibit their recovery. It should also be noted that even the great white shark, the target of the program, is a listed threatened species that governments are obliged to protect and recover. Many of these species are protected thanks to HSI nominations. Further, these programs could also lead to the listing of several other marine species as threatened under the Commonwealth legislation.
• The grey nurse shark is listed as critically endangered on the east coast of Australia, under the EPBC Act, thanks to an HSI nomination. It has an estimated population of 1,300 individuals, well below the internationally recognised level of 5,000 individuals at which the future of a species is considered at peril..Shark control programs have been recognised as a major threat to the survival of this species and the removal of shark nets and drumlines would undoubtedly assist its recovery. In 2004, 2 large breeding females were killed in the nets on the first day they were installed for the 2004 summer season.
• While the number of great white and grey nurse sharks caught in nets has decreased in recent years, this is more an indication of dramatically depleted populations rather than the lack of impact of shark meshing and baited drumlines on marine species.
• Humpback whales, whose numbers are newly recovering from whaling, are also being entangled in the nets in increasing numbers when travelling along our east coast with calves.
• Between 1975 and 2001, over 4000 marine turtles were caught in nets and drumlines in QLD. The majority of these were green and loggerhead turtles. Loggerheads are listed as endangered under the EPBC Act and greens are listed as vulnerable. Between 1992 and 1996, an average of 28.4 loggerhead turtles were caught each year as a result of shark control nets and drumlines. Even though 87% of these turtles were released alive, this still represents 3 loggerhead turtle deaths per year, a figure acknowledged as unsustainable by the Federal Environment Department. The number of deaths may be even higher than this, since many turtles freed from shark nets and drumlines have serious lacerations on their bodies and little is known about the impact this can have on their survival and ability to reproduce. While QLD has recently implemented circle hooks on drumlines to reduce turtle bycatch, a significant number of turtles will still be caught in shark nets.
• As a result of a HSI nomination, the NSW Government has listed shark nets as a Key Threatening Process under both the NSW Fisheries Management Act and the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act due to the threat posed to the grey nurse shark, marine turtles, humpback whales and other wildlife. The NSW Government is now required to develop a Threat Abatement Plan which could phase out the nets and investigate humane and less ecologically damaging alternatives. It is incredible that NSW Government still operates the program despite the recognition in law that it threatens the survival of protected species.
  Click here for HSI's nomination to list Shark Control Nets and Drumlines in NSW and Qld as a key threatening process under State and Federal legislation (PDF, 200 kB)