SYDNEY (26 February 2025)—Randwick Council, has Tuesday night, voted no to the continued use of shark nets, meaning none of the eight councils with shark nets have supported their continued use.
The NSW Government has consulted with coastal councils over the future of shark nets at their ocean beaches, and Randwick was the last council to vote.
The overwhelming lack of support for shark nets from all affected councils now paves the way for the Minns Government to announce a modern and effective shark safety program that dispenses with the destructive and ineffective nets.
Randwick Council is responsible for shark nets at Coogee and Maroubra beaches.
Humane World for Animals marine biologist and PhD researcher in human/shark interactions, Lauren Sandeman addressed the council meeting ahead of the vote. Sandeman explained that shark nets make no difference to public safety but instead have a devastating impact on marine animals.
The Maroubra and Coogee shark nets have not recorded the capture of a single target shark since 2020. They have instead caught and killed numerous other marine life, including endangered turtles and critically endangered grey nurse sharks.
'Shark nets are redundant, and we should rely solely on vastly superior alternative measures that successive NSW governments have spent years developing—drone surveillance and listening stations (which detect tagged sharks in the area and send alerts). SMART drumlines are also in place at the beaches to catch and relocate target sharks and personal shark deterrents are commercially available for people to wear.'
'Information obtained by FOI from the local council's drone surveillance has shown at least six target sharks swimming close to shore on the beach-side of the shark net at Maroubra in the last six months. Shark nets are completely ineffective relics of the past and the people and marine life of NSW deserve better.'
Sandeman also addressed the growing public safety concern that shark nets attract sharks. Images from within the NSW Shark Meshing Program (SMP) and obtained under Freedom of Information, show large sharks feeding on animals caught in the nets, proving a long-held theory that dead and dying animals in the nets actually attract sharks into the beach.
The images are consistent with a Report on the Scientific Guidelines to reduce shark bites, prepared for the QLD Department of Fisheries, which outlines several guidelines to mitigate shark bite.
One of those guidelines is to, 'not swim or surf near shark nets.'
'As sharks are attracted to struggling prey, a shark net is akin to ringing a dinner bell for any large shark in the area, and those nets are placed right near swimmers and surfers with the false assumption that they keep us safe'.
'Having a shark safety program that attracts sharks towards swimmers is irresponsible in anyone's language. Shark nets are a dangerous placebo that we have used for far too long. We wouldn't accept antiquated almost 100-year-old safety standards in any other facet of our lives – why would beach safety be the exception? The beachgoing public of NSW deserves better, and so does our marine life,' she said.
Humane World for Animals looks forward to the Minns Government announcing a decision to retire the nets.
Lauren Sandeman is
