Adelaide says no to shark nets on beach

[Greatwhite70]

Council Rules Out Glenelg Shark Net
January 12, 2006
Release from:
By Xanthe Kleinig
The Advertiser
Holdfast Bay Council has ruled out a shark net to protect swimmers on the the city's most popular beach.

At its Tuesday meeting, the council agreed to give "in principle" support for reducing the risk of shark attack on Adelaide beaches, but specifically ruled out shark nets or repellant at Glenelg.

Holdfast Bay Mayor Ken Rollond said the council felt a permanent barrier was "cost prohibitive" and would prefer the State Government to continue aerial surveillance.

"We should be doing what we can to prevent the risk of shark attack for the whole of the metropolitan coast," he said.

Member for Morphett Duncan McFetridge had proposed a permanent 1 1/2km-long barrier from the Patawalonga to the Glenelg jetty to protect swimmers.

He said he was "very disappointed" the council had not taken his proposal further.

"There is a need to have a system in place that gives people 100 per cent security. More equipment and more safety campaigns is not the answer."

[hund7]

the problem with shark nets is that they catch everything. from a 2 foot turtle to a 50 foot whale.

what rite do we have to kill so much life just so we can feel all warm and fuzzy about going to the beech on the weekend?

none at all in my view.

airial spotter planes are effective and are my personal first choice.

the risks are so low of being attacked that it should not be a concern anyway. if anyone is that worryed about sharks then dont go swimming. i saw on tv a few nights ago that in 2005 there were 8 shark related deaths in the world, while there were about 100 deaths from stampeeding african elephants. do we want elephant nets around our beaches too? heh. the other quote had something to do with more people being killed by falling coconuts than by sharks...

nets are bad news for everything that lives in the sea.

thats my 2 bits worth

[Matt23v2]

I agree

[Greatwhite70]

Netting is a problem and does damage the local eco system.
Use of spotters better education at beaches as to how to reduce the risk of attack are needed.

We choose to be in an area where we are ill equipped and disregard the species that live there and take it as a shock when an attacks occurs and attaempt to hunt down and kill the wrong animal!