Shark nets are being re-installed in beaches in and around Sydney despite opposition from conservation groups, and across the political spectrum. Those opposed to the nets argue they're not effective in protecting swimmers and are devastating to marine life.
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00:00 Officers from the NSW Department of Primary Industries were up bright and early this morning
00:07 reinstating shark nets on major beaches across the NSW coast.
00:13 Now that starts up at Newcastle, right through Sydney and down to Wollongong, across 51 beaches.
00:20 Now those nets have been in place for decades, almost generations now,
00:24 and they're there to stop sharks from entering those popular beaches to protect swimmers in theory.
00:31 But there's mounting pressure from conservationists and crossbench MPs here in NSW Parliament
00:38 who are saying that they're actually destructive to local marine life
00:42 and they're not actually effective in protecting swimmers.
00:45 Now those calls are coming in NSW Parliament from the Animal Justice Party, the Greens
00:51 and Liberal Party MP for Terrigal up on the central coast, Adam Crouch,
00:57 who called on the Minns Labor government this year to make it the first year that the shark nets weren't put in place.
01:04 Now we know the stats from last season, 228 marine animals were caught in those nets.
01:10 Of those, only 24 were targeted shark species.
01:15 So there was a massive amount of bycatch there and of all the total animals that were caught in the nets across those beaches,
01:24 only 37% of those survived.
01:29 So there was a lot of destruction for that marine life.
01:33 Among those MPs that are calling for change are also local councils,
01:39 including the Waverley Council Mayor here in Bondi.
01:43 We see baby whales, turtles, stingrays, that's just not acceptable in this day and age.
01:50 And when we're seeing the numbers of bycatch, that's what's really heartbreaking.
01:56 It's not just one or two.
01:58 This year it was over 220, the previous year it was over 325.
02:04 Those numbers are just not acceptable.
02:06 Now the perceptions from locals are mixed, but largely a lot of the people that we spoke to here at Bondi today
02:14 say they were concerned about marine life and would like to see the nets gone.
02:18 Here's what they had to say.
02:19 I think that's not acceptable at all.
02:21 I mean, we should be protecting our marine life.
02:23 This beach should have nets because thousands of people come here every day and they've got to be protected.
02:30 Other beaches, probably not.
02:32 But this one definitely.
02:33 It's the people's beach.
02:34 Marine life does get trapped and I don't support that.
02:37 You know, I don't mind the other wildlife out there, but I'd rather not have sharks getting us.
02:41 So the New South Wales Premier, Chris Mins, says that while there are other technologies
02:47 like drum lines and drones being used to monitor sharks on these popular beaches,
02:52 he's not yet confident that there's enough evidence behind them to justify removing those nets.
03:00 So they'll be in place for yet another season here in New South Wales.
03:04 Those conservationists and advocates are arguing that it should be its last,
03:09 but no less they will be here in summer in New South Wales.
03:12 New South Wales.
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