Shark nets a waste of money

Shark nets offer little more than a false sense of security and usually trap other animals, experts say. Source: The Daily Telegraph

They said shark nets used in other states were a waste of money that did little more than create a false sense of security while indiscriminately killing other animals, including dolphins, whales and turtles, and WA would be "foolish" to go down that path.

As the search for missing Perth businessman Bryn Martin, who is believed to have been taken by a white pointer at Cottesloe Beach on Monday, wound down yesterday, swimmers at another Perth beach were forced from the water when a jet skier reported seeing a large shark 200m offshore.

Mullaloo Beach was closed for several hours as police scanned the water but there were no further sightings.

Police said the search for Mr Martin's remains would resume today but had been scaled down.

But he said the great whites in West Australian waters would not be reduced by nets, which were generally just 150m long.

"The sharks we're talking about there are transients. They don't live at Cottesloe or Perth beaches, they're just passing through, and the chances of them hitting a net are so low that it's almost pointless," he said.

Murdoch University's David Morgan said the nets also risked attracting more white pointers to feed off other animals caught in the mesh.

Trevor Long, director of marine research at Seaworld on the Gold Coast, said the nets used in Queensland were frequently ineffective because the sharks could swim between them.

But Vic Peddemors, a shark biologist with the NSW government, said the state would spend $1.4 million this year deploying nets at 51 beaches and the program had been phenomenally successful.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/shark-pan-nets-as-a-waste-of-money/story-e6frg8y6-1226165301618