Overview

• Premier Chris Minns cancelled a planned trial to remove nets at three beaches after surfer Mercury Psillakis was killed at Long Reef, the first recorded fatal shark attack on Sydney’s northern beaches in about nine decades.
• An annual NSW report logged 223 animals caught in 2024–25, with only 24 target sharks and 199 non‑target species, and just 74 released alive, including seven deaths among 13 turtles and four dolphin deaths.
• The program runs 51 nets between Newcastle and Wollongong that are installed each September and now retrieved at the end of March to reduce turtle bycatch, with LED lights trialed on 21 nets to deter turtles.
• Experts note the nets are gill nets about 150 metres long that sit near the surface and do not enclose beaches, with limited effectiveness for pelagic species like great whites and comparatively more effect on resident bull sharks.
• Authorities highlight a broader toolkit that includes 305 SMART drumlines deployed daily and acoustic tagging of roughly 1,500 white, 700 tiger and 230 bull sharks, yet only a fraction of sharks are tagged, so no single measure can eliminate risk.