Photo: Panyawat Auitpol // Unsplash
It looks like the shark nets at New South Wales beaches are coming down early. As 9 News reports, the nets will be removed at 51 Australian beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong next week.
Shark nets have long been a controversial safety measure at NSW beaches. They were first installed off the shore of Bondi in 1937 and have been used every summer since, apart from three years during World War II. However, despite their long-established use, it has actually been quite difficult to prove how well they actually work. Moreover, opponents of the nets maintain that they are not only ineffective, but also damage marine ecosystems. As a result, five of the eight councils where nets are implemented have passed motions in support of their removal. Still, despite these protests, the nets went up once again this year.
Usually, those nets would have stayed up until April 30, but the NSW government has decided to remove them on March 31 instead. According to 9 News, the reason for the change was a result of increased turtle activity in the region. The turtles also prompted the government to make net inspections more frequent, in order to prevent their entanglement.
It is still unclear whether this has any implications for when the devices will be implemented again next year, but the shark nets’ early removal is surely a welcome development for their critics.
