2310 dolphins like these have been killed in the nets.

While the nets and drumlines target the three species deemed dangerous by the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (great white sharks, tiger sharks, zambezi sharks), many other sharks and marine animals are killed in the nets. In fact, far more other species of sharks and innocent marine animals fall victim to the nets. Gill nets are considered one of the most unselective fishing methods known - second only to dynamite in its destruction.

In the last thirty years, the nets have been responsible for the death of a significant amount of bycatch including approximately 2,211 turtles, 8,448 rays, and 2,310 dolphins. This means that the nets and drumlines have caught 100% more turtles and dolphins and 800% more rays than white sharks. Important to note, all species of turtles and many species of dolphins are threatened or endangered. Additionally, the nets average 5 threatened or endangered whale catches per year as well.

The nets have been responsible for the death of over 33,684 sharks in the last thirty years, although less than 12% of those sharks are the targeted species. Thus approximately 29,800 sharks have been killed in the last 30 years that did not pose any threat whatsoever to bathers. However, their deaths do indeed pose a threat to the health of the ocean ecosystem.

Nets are so disastrous on the ecosystems in which they are installed, they have been declared as “environmentally hazardous” in Australia, the only other country in the world that utilizes nets for bather protection. The New South Whales Government has listed shark nets as a Key Threatening Process under both the NSW Fisheries Management Act and the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act due to the threat posed to the grey nurse shark, marine turtles, humpback whales and other wildlife. The NSW Government is now required to develop a Threat Abatement Plan, which could phase out the nets and investigate humane and less ecologically damaging alternatives.