Nets are a dead loss for sea life

Sarah Whyte Sydney Morning Herald 22 Aug 10;

ALMOST 4000 sea creatures have been caught in shark nets lining NSW beaches over the past 20 years, new government figures reveal, prompting calls from environmentalists to immediately ban the meshing.

Of the official count of 3944 creatures trapped, about 60 per cent were sharks and less than 4 per cent were considered "target" species (or those particularly harmful to humans) - that is, 100 great whites and 49 tiger sharks.

The haul - as recorded in the Department of Primary Industries' Report into the NSW Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program - included a total of 2521 sharks.

Among them were 15 grey nurses, a harmless species considered critically endangered.

Also on the list were stingrays (1269), dolphins (52), turtles (47), whales (six), seals (four), a penguin and a dugong.

Humane Society International's director Michael Kennedy said the public would be shocked to know how many animals were killed in the nets, which are strung off parts of 51 popular beaches from Stockton in the north down to South Wollongong, from September 1 to April 30.

"We know from our own research and from the government's research that these nets do kill a large amount of threatened marine animals," Mr Kennedy said. "It is very hard to justify their continued use."

The Humane Society is calling on the NSW government to invest in alternative protection measures, such as radio signals, sonar technology and electric nets.

"The government needs to be brave enough to use these new devices rather than kill the animals," Mr Kennedy said.

Primary Industries Minister Stephen Whan said shark control measures were constantly reviewed but there were no viable alternatives to meshing, although the government would again trial additional aerial patrols of selected beaches from late December.

"There are no guarantees when entering the ocean; there are sharks off NSW beaches and in NSW water," said Mr Whan, who described the netting program as a phenomenal success.

"In over 50 years, there has not been a fatal shark attack on a meshed beach."

Surf Life Saving NSW also advocated further research into shark net alternatives.

"The risk of shark attacks is extremely low and anecdotally we are aware it does have environmental impacts," spokeswoman Donna Wishart said. "The shark nets don't actually fence off the beaches but they do work to stop sharks establishing territorial areas near the shoreline."

Figures compiled by Sydney's Taronga Zoo show there have been 151 shark attacks around Australia over the past decade, including 15 fatalities. The zoo's life sciences manager John West said shark nets were still the most effective method of reducing sharks in an area but he recommended shaving a month from each end of the meshing season.

The government said netting contractors were expected to check the nets every 72 hours, weather permitting. A former NSW shark net contractor, who asked not to be named, said it would be possible to check the nets daily if the government paid more.

"The nets are definitely effective," he said. "But the pingers used to warn off dolphins and whales have never worked."

Queenscliff Surf Club coach Damien Daley said the consensus among surf lifesavers was that the nets were environmentally damaging. "When I dive, 50 per cent of the animals caught in the nets are not sharks." … You are more likely to be killed by a strike of lightning than a shark."

But Adrian Salteer, owner of a fishing charter boat, Kingfisher, said the nets should remain. "When there are 4 million people just in Sydney, it's all about balance. Do you try and save the sharks or have people eaten?"