00:00 Officers from the NSW Department of Primary Industries were up bright and early this morning
00:07 reinstating shark nets on major beaches across the NSW coast.
00:13 Now that starts up at Newcastle, right through Sydney and down to Wollongong, across 51 beaches.
00:20 Now those nets have been in place for decades, almost generations now,
00:24 and they're there to stop sharks from entering those popular beaches to protect swimmers in theory.
00:31 But there's mounting pressure from conservationists and crossbench MPs here in NSW Parliament
00:38 who are saying that they're actually destructive to local marine life
00:42 and they're not actually effective in protecting swimmers.
00:45 Now those calls are coming in NSW Parliament from the Animal Justice Party, the Greens
00:51 and Liberal Party MP for Terrigal up on the central coast, Adam Crouch,
00:57 who called on the Minns Labor government this year to make it the first year that the shark nets weren't put in place.
01:04 Now we know the stats from last season, 228 marine animals were caught in those nets.
01:10 Of those, only 24 were targeted shark species.
01:15 So there was a massive amount of bycatch there and of all the total animals that were caught in the nets across those beaches,
01:24 only 37% of those survived.
01:29 So there was a lot of destruction for that marine life.
01:33 Among those MPs that are calling for change are also local councils,
01:39 including the Waverley Council Mayor here in Bondi.
01:43 We see baby whales, turtles, stingrays, that's just not acceptable in this day and age.
01:50 And when we're seeing the numbers of bycatch, that's what's really heartbreaking.
01:56 It's not just one or two.
01:58 This year it was over 220, the previous year it was over 325.
02:04 Those numbers are just not acceptable.
02:06 Now the perceptions from locals are mixed, but largely a lot of the people that we spoke to here at Bondi today
02:14 say they were concerned about marine life and would like to see the nets gone.
02:18 Here's what they had to say.
02:19 I think that's not acceptable at all.
02:21 I mean, we should be protecting our marine life.
02:23 This beach should have nets because thousands of people come here every day and they've got to be protected.
02:30 Other beaches, probably not.
02:32 But this one definitely.
02:33 It's the people's beach.
02:34 Marine life does get trapped and I don't support that.
02:37 You know, I don't mind the other wildlife out there, but I'd rather not have sharks getting us.
02:41 So the New South Wales Premier, Chris Mins, says that while there are other technologies
02:47 like drum lines and drones being used to monitor sharks on these popular beaches,
02:52 he's not yet confident that there's enough evidence behind them to justify removing those nets.
03:00 So they'll be in place for yet another season here in New South Wales.
03:04 Those conservationists and advocates are arguing that it should be its last,
03:09 but no less they will be here in summer in New South Wales.
03:12 New South Wales.
03:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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