Ali Be

For decades, the New South Wales and Queensland Governments have run lethal shark-control programs under the banner of ‘beachgoer safety’, despite clear evidence that culling does nothing to reduce shark-bite risk . The continuation of these programs is seemingly only to protect politicians from media backlash, not to protect beachgoers from sharks. Thousands of animals are killed annually, and millions of people given a false sense of security, for the political comfort of a handful of...

The recently published Queensland SharkSmart drone trial report confirms what the science behind shark interaction mitigation has long asserted : non-lethal aerial surveillance (drones) are substantially more effective at spotting sharks than catch-and-kill equipment such as shark nets and drumlines. During the trial, conducted under the Queensland Government’s Shark Control Program (SCP), drones recorded 676 shark-sighting events, compared to just 284 sharks caught in adjacent SCP gear...

The NSW Government’s 2025 Shark Meshing Program began in September, and hidden Government files obtained regarding the first month of operation have already exposed a troubling reality. Images obtained under the state’s Freedom of Information Act (GIPA) reveal that on the first fortnight of the shark nets being redeployed, a tiger shark, one of the DPI’s ‘target species , was caught and killed on the Central Coast’s Shelly Beach, and left to attract larger sharks to the area. When the carcass...