Shark meshing
Important information
Key threatening process: The current shark meshing program in New South Wales waters.
Description: The program involves using specially designed nets along 51 beaches from Newcastle to Wollongong, where the majority of people in NSW swim and surf. The nets do not stretch from one end of a beach to the other. They are not designed to create a total barrier between bathers and sharks they are designed to deter sharks from establishing territories, thereby reducing the odds of a shark encounter.
Impacts: Shark meshing is undertaken along certain beaches in NSW for bather protection, unfortunately the nets used also catch non-targeted species, such as grey nurse shark and other threatened marine mammals. For this reason the shark meshing program is listed as a key threatening process.