Shark nets deployed again to keep maneaters from our midst

EXCLUSIVE: Shark nets will again be deployed off the NSW north coast this summer after a hugely successful trial that halted a horror run of deadly attacks in the region.

Drones and helicopters will also be used in the shark-monitoring program.

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SHARK nets will again be deployed off the NSW north coast this summer after a hugely successful trial that halted a horror run of deadly attacks in the region.

Former premier Mike Baird was forced to install nets between mid-December and May after a huge spike in shark maulings, including the 2015 death of Japanese surfer Tadashi ­Nakahara off Ballina.

Mr Baird faced protests by greenie activists as he announced the nets last year, including one who threw a net over him.

This 2.32m male white shark was caught at Lennox Head Beach on August 4 on a drumline. Source: Supplied

Despite the controversy, the policy worked — with zero attacks recorded off the north coast last summer and none since. There were 14 shark ­attacks at the height of the 2015 north coast crisis, eight last year and just two so far in 2017 in other parts of the state.

The nets, laid off Lighthouse, ­Sharpes and Shelly beaches at Ballina, Lennox Heads’ Seven Mile Beach and Evans Head, also led to a welcome ­resurgence of the north coast’s tourism industry, which took a battering as families felt unsafe to swim or surf there.

Drones and helicopters will also be used in the shark-monitoring program.

Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair will announce today a second trial of the nets will begin in November, covering the same beaches, along with 25 “smart” drumlines designed to catch man-eating sharks. There will also be helicopter and drone patrols.

A further 266 animals were caught in the nets.

“During the (first) six-month trial we tested both nets and ‘smart’ drumlines, and while the drumlines proved more effective at catching ‘target’ sharks, a further trial will provide more evidence of the nets’ effectiveness,” Mr Blair said.

He said results from last summer’s trial showed communities felt safer but there were concerns at the numbers of other creatures caught in the nets, including turtles and dolphins.

Surfers told the Daily Telegraph they warmly welcomed the first trial of the nets, while businesses ­noticed an increase in visitor numbers.

A 2.35m female was caught on August 20 near Forster. Picture: Supplied

“The nets will again be fitted with dolphin ‘pingers’ and whale alarms but there will also be a number of modifications to the design and operation of the nets in an attempt to minimise bycatch numbers,” Mr Blair said.

Nine deadly sharks — three great whites, three tigers and three bull sharks — were caught in the nets ­during the trial, with four released alive. Five of the sharks were caught at Sharpes Beach.

A further 266 animals were caught in the nets, including 16 “non-target” sharks, four dolphins and 11 turtles. The most commonly caught creature was the Australian cownose ray.

The government’s “smart” drumlines, which alert authorities when they catch a shark, snared 36 great white, tiger and bull sharks off the north coast last summer. Two of the sharks died.

“Due to the increasing numbers a cull should be a foregone conclusion.”

Drumlines have also caught four sharks off the NSW coast in the past six weeks.

North Coast Parliamentary Secretary Ben Franklin said tourism in the region was definitely improving.

“Beaches are filling up again and importantly we are seeing more ­people being ‘shark smart’,” Mr Franklin said.

Shark nets will today be installed for the summer between Wollongong and Newcastle. There has been just one fatal attack on netted beaches ­between the two cities since 1937.

A male white shark measuring 2.35m was caught at Evans Head on July 21. Picture: Supplied

The state government has backed away from calls to install shark nets further south, where there have been very few attacks, but it will place 20 smart drumlines on the south coast from November.

“We are making sure we have the best possible measures in place and beachgoers are as informed as they can be,” Mr Blair said.

The Daily Telegraph revealed in July that hunting for great white sharks could begin next year after a study to determine how many of the beasts are lurking off our coast.

Some beachgoers demanded a cull after the 2015-16 north coast attacks.

“The cold, hard reality is that their numbers are increasing — there’s no way anyone can dispute that,” Lennox-Ballina Boardriders Club president Don Munro said in July.

“Due to the increasing numbers a cull should be a foregone conclusion.”

A 2.8m female white shark caught at One Mile Beach, Forster

Various theories have been put forward as to why the shark population may have increased, including greater numbers of bait fish.

The federal government will consider removing the “vulnerable and threatened” protection status for great whites after a CSIRO study into their numbers due later this year.