Australia
In New South Wales, Australia, 51 beaches are netted. The nets are maintained by the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. The nets are generally 150 metres long, 6 m wide and "bottom-set" on the seabed in depths of 10 m. The nets can be 500 metres from the beach. The mesh is sized 50 - 60 centimetres. Nets are lifted every 24 to 48 hours for servicing so as to prevent rotting, to clean out debris and to remove dead sharks and other marine life. It is said that 35 - 50% of the sharks are entangled from the beach side. Acoustic "pingers" have been fitted to the nets to warn off dolphins and whales and the nets are not in place in winter, the whale migration season. The Department states that the nets have "never been regarded as a means of absolutely preventing any attacks", but help to deter sharks from establishing territories. The netting program began in 1937. During 70 years while the nets have been in operation, there has been only one fatal attack on a netted beach.
In Queensland, Australia, drum lines are used. The Shark Safety Program has been in place since the early 1960s. A fatal attack in January 2006 on a North Stradbroke Island beach, was on a beach protected by drum lines.
Read more about this topic: Shark Net
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