Greens Candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker is calling on the State Labor Government to keep shark nets out of the water this summer.

Greens State MLC Cate Faehrmann will speak at the award winning documentary, Envoy: Shark Cull, with guest speakers Laura Wells and Dr Rob Brander.

Greens Candidate for Wollongong lord mayor Jess Whittaker said the people of the Illawarra were horrified earlier this year when drone footage showed a bottlenose dolphin fatally entangled in a shark net off Thirroul beach.

“The NSW Labor government is responsible for this silent slaughter of marine life in shark nets because they have refused to take action since winning government and replace this old and cruel technology with evidence-based, environmentally sensitive strategies of shark management,” she said.

“I’ve been concerned about shark nets for a while now, because this approach to management forces us to fight against the environment,” Ms Whittaker said.

“We can’t afford to keep relying on old ways of managing sharks when we know it is harmful and these have been shown to cause a great amount of suffering to native animals.”

Story by Mick Roberts in The Bulli & Clifton Times, 19 June 2024.

Greens Candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker is ramping up calls for the State Government to remove shark nets from all Wollongong beaches before the 2024-2025 swimming season.

"The Greens set up a stall at Thirroul over the weekend to talk to people about shark nets and I can say the community sentiment was overwhelmingly in favour of removing the net," Ms Whittaker said.

"People understand that entering the ocean comes with an element of personal responsibility.

"The community told us that they want the government to stop using outdated technology and focus on methods to reduce risk that are kind to the environment, effective and good value."

Ms Whittaker said the nets should be removed without further ado. "We know that shark nets catch mainly other species other than sharks," she said.

"Shark nets are an old method that don't keep swimmers and surfers safe. The state government needs to remove them from our beaches.

"Just like we educate about swimming between the flags, we can also help reduce the risk of shark interactions by providing advice about not swimming in murky water, at dawn or dusk or when there are bait fish around, as well as guidance on the range of personal shark deterrent devices available."

By Ben Langford in the Illawarra Mercury, 21 March 2024.

“Shark nets are a cruel, outdated form of control that have not been proven to keep swimmers safe,” Ms Whittaker said.

“During the weekend we sadly saw an endangered leatherback turtle tangled in shark nets off Manly Beach, followed shortly after by another very large turtle rescued from the nets at Dee Why. This is unacceptable.

“We know that shark nets catch mainly other species other than sharks. Shark nets are an old method that don’t keep swimmers and surfers safe. The state government needs to remove them from our beaches.”

The $86.4 million dollar Sharksmart program funds a range of measures from drum lines to less invasive drone surveillance that can alert swimmers and surfers to the presence of sharks.

“The program offers education and can also supply trauma kits for a fast response in the event of a shark attack.

“There’s some really great elements in this program that use technology such as drones to warn swimmers of a risk, but currently most of the resources are going into managing drum lines and nets,” Ms Whittaker said.

“The Greens set up a stall at Thirroul over the weekend to talk to people about shark nets and I can say the community sentiment was overwhelmingly in favour of removing the nets. People understand that entering the ocean comes with an element of personal responsibility. Just like we educate about swimming between the flags, we can also help reduce the risk of shark interactions by providing advice about not swimming in murky water, at dawn or dusk or when there are bait fish around, as well as guidance on the range of personal shark deterrent devices available.

“The community told us that they want the government to stop using outdated technology and focus on methods to reduce risk that are kind to the environment, effective and good value. Instead of netting dolphins, rays and endangered turtles off our beaches, we are calling on the State Government to reallocate funds that manage nets, to better resourcing the serious problems that actually are harming the community, such as domestic violence, homelessness and access to healthcare.”

“There are popular beaches right up and down the east coast of NSW that are free from shark nets. Why are they only deployed around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong? If there was a really high, unacceptable risk of shark interactions they would be at every swimming beach. But they’re not. So let’s stop killing marine life on our city beaches with nets that sharks can swim around, and focus on the tools we have that don’t cause harm and actually work,” Ms Whittaker said.

Story by Mick Roberts in The Bulli & Clifton Times, 21 March 2024.

Wollongong Greens candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker is calling for shark nets to be removed from Wollongong City Beaches following the fatal entanglement of a bottlenose dolphin at Thirroul last week.

Giving all swimmers a free shark repellent wetsuit would be more effective against shark attacks than the nets about to be installed again off Wollongong beaches, Councillor Cath Blakey said.

Wollongong Greens councillor Cath Blakey said there were several alternatives to help protect swimmers that had been proven to be more effective and less deadly. These include tagged shark listening stations and drone surveillance.

"It would be far more effective for the NSW government gave any resident that wanted one a Shark Stop wetsuit, than deploy the shark nets which kill dolphins, turtles and rays and give a false sense of security," she said.

"There has also been shark smart training and accreditation of the regional drone fleet at Coledale and Stanwell Park (Surf Life Saving Clubs)."

"Plus there have also been other suggestions like the WA rebate for personal shark deterrent devices - electrical, magnetic and audio devices showing some benefit, but no guarantee."

Story by Ben Langford in the Illawarra Mercury, 22 August 2023.

from ABC Illawarra Mornings with Nick Rheinberger, 23 March 2023.

"We need, immediately, the shark net at Garie Beach to be pulled out of the water, because there's no patrols happening at that beach at the moment. It's not a high use beach."

"It's absolutely useless and all it is doing is trapping animals and causing marine wildlife carnage."

"At the moment the Department of Primary Industries has to seek an exemption under the Biodiversity Conservation Act, to kill threatened species and that is just absolutely horrendous."

"The Joint Management Agreement says that they have to reduce the threat to animals and that's not happening. We're seeing Loggerhead Turtles, Leatherback Turtles, Green Turtles as well as rays and dolphins and non-target sharks all getting caught in shark nets and it's terrible."

"When there's an animal caught in the net [sharks] can really sense the distress. It actually seems to be attracting sharks rather than stopping them from getting into the beach."

"Wollongong's got seventeen patrolled beaches and we've got five with shark nets and we know that there's not a greater instance of shark attacks on the twelve other beaches that are patrolled but don't have shark nets."

Cr Cath Blakey, Greens candidate for Wollongong.

Listen to the ABC radio interview here.

"How many more innocent dolphins, turtles, rays, whales and other marine animals have to die before this government removes outdated and ineffective shark nets?"

"The Greens are campaigning to remove shark nets from all beaches across NSW in favour of modern, more effective shark risk management."

Cooper Riach, Greens candidate for Heathcote.

Read more in the Illawarra Mercury, 25 February 2023.

Read more in the South Coast Register, 25 February 2023.