Remove The Nets

An image that scares many people... but logically shouldn't.

Given the current state of the shark population locally and worldwide, nets exist for psychological reasons far more than safety reasons.

Over the years, many other misconceptions about nets have also developed. Many are surprised to learn nets are not barricades, nor do they ensure sharks do not reach the beaches. They are fishing devices that gradually reduce shark populations over time by killing sharks, thereby reducing human-shark encounters.

Shark nets are gill nets installed in tiered patterns by KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB) – not fully extending to either the top or the bottom, and not fully enclosing the beach areas. The nets do not act as a complete deterrent to the sharks’ ability to reach the beaches, as they are not permanently set in the water, do not cover the whole length of the beach, and do not extend from the water surface to the seabed. In fact, only 8% of the 320 km of the eastern coast is covered with nets or drumlines.

Further, more than 40% of shark entanglements occur on the beach side of the nets, because sharks are able to swim over and around the nets. This means the sharks have safely swam into the beaches and are caught when they are swimming away. Sharks can move freely in and out of the areas where nets are installed. And when they can see the nets, they can avoid them.

Bathers are no more protected at a netted beach than at an adjacent non-netted beach since the ‘fishing effect’ of the nets reduce shark numbers on both beaches as tigers, great whites and zambezi sharks have territories that span larger areas. In fact, it could be argued that bathers are even safer at a non-netted beach adjacent to a netted beach over a weekend or holiday when the nets are not serviced since any animal caught in the nets during that period will spend the rest of the weekend serving as bait, luring other sharks in.

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.