Editing Shark attack (section)

=== Shark nets ===
{{Main|Shark net}}
In [[Australia]] and [[South Africa]], shark nets are used to reduce the risk of shark attack. Since 1936, shark nets have been used off Sydney beaches.<ref name="Coastwatch-article">{{cite web |url=http://52.64.240.87/environment/20632/nick-carroll-on-beyond-the-panic-the-facts-about-shark-nets |title=Nick Carroll On-Beyond the Panic, The Facts about Shark Nets |first=Carroll |last=Nick |publisher=Coastal Watch |access-date=22 November 2016 |archive-date=5 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305002330/http://52.64.240.87/environment/20632/nick-carroll-on-beyond-the-panic-the-facts-about-shark-nets |url-status=dead }}</ref> Shark nets are currently installed at beaches in [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]]; 83 beaches are meshed in Queensland compared with 51 in New South Wales.<ref name="Coastwatch-article" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/4275374/beyond-the-panic-the-facts-about-shark-nets/|title=Beyond the panic: the facts about shark nets|publisher=Australian Community Media – Fairfax Media|date=8 November 2016|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref> Since 1952, nets have been installed at numerous beaches in South Africa by the [[KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board]].<ref name="cullconserve" /><ref name="sharkangels" />

Shark nets do not offer complete protection but work on the principle of "fewer sharks, fewer attacks". They reduce occurrence via shark mortality. Reducing the local shark populations is believed to reduce the chance of an attack. Historical shark attack figures suggest that shark nets and drumlines markedly reduce the incidence of shark attack when regularly and consistently implemented.<ref name="Curtis-2012">{{cite web |url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260382789|title=Responding to the risk of white shark attack: updated statistics, prevention, control, methods and recommendation. Chapter 29 In: M. L. Domeier (ed). Global Perspectives on the Biology and Life History of the White Shark |author=Curtis |display-authors=etal |date=2012|publisher=CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. |access-date=18 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-22/can-governments-protect-people-from-killer-sharks/5158880|title=Can governments protect people from killer sharks?|newspaper=ABC News|date=22 December 2013|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref>

The downside of shark nets is that they result in bycatch, including threatened and endangered species.<ref name="cullconserve">{{cite web|url=https://briantissot.com/2015/08/20/shark-attacks-and-the-surfers-dilemma-cull-or-conserve/|title=Shark Attacks and the Surfer's Dilemma: Cull or Conserve?|date=21 August 2015|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref> Between September 2017 and April 2018, 403 animals were killed in the nets in [[New South Wales]], including 10 critically endangered [[grey nurse shark]]s, 7 [[dolphin]]s, 7 [[green sea turtle]]s, and 14 [[great white shark]]s.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2018/08/04/sydney-shark-nets-set-stay-despite-drumline-success| title = Sydney shark nets set to stay despite drumline success {{!}} Swellnet Dispatch {{!}} Swellnet}} Swellnet.com. ''Sydney shark nets set to stay despite drumline success.'' Bruce Mackenzie. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.</ref> Between 1950 and 2008, 352 tiger sharks and 577 great white sharks were killed in the nets in New South Wales. Also during this period, 15,135 marine animals were killed in the nets, including [[whale]]s, [[turtle]]s, [[ray (fish)|rays]], [[dolphin]]s, and [[dugong]]s.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.marineconservation.org.au/pages/shark-culling.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181002102324/https://www.marineconservation.org.au/pages/shark-culling.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2018-10-02| title = Shark culling · Save our Sharks · Australian Marine Conservation Society}} Marineconservation.org.au. Shark culling (archived). Retrieved 2 December 2018.</ref> [[KwaZulu-Natal]]'s net program, operated by the [[KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board]], has killed more than 33,000 sharks in a 30-year period. During the same 30-year period, 2,211 turtles, 8,448 rays, and 2,310 dolphins were killed in KwaZulu-Natal.<ref name="sharkangels" />

Shark nets have been criticized by environmentalists, scientists, and conservationists, who assert that shark nets harm the [[marine ecosystem]].<ref name="sharkangels">http://www.sharkangels.org/index.php/media/news/157-shark-nets {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919132309/http://www.sharkangels.org/index.php/media/news/157-shark-nets |date=19 September 2018 }} ''Shark Nets.'' Sharkangels.org. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.sbs.com.au/news/nsw-govt-won-t-back-down-on-shark-nets| title = NSW govt won't back down on shark nets {{!}} SBS News}} ''NSW govt won't back down on shark nets.'' Sbs.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref name="cullconserve" /> In particular, the current net program in [[New South Wales]] has been described as being "extremely destructive" to marine life.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.buzzfeed.com/elfyscott/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-australias-smart-drum| title = Here's What You Need To Know About Australia's SMART Drum Lines Being Used To Prevent Shark Attacks| website = [[BuzzFeed]]| date = 5 July 2018}}<br /> ''Here's What You Need To Know About Australia's SMART Drum Lines Being Used To Prevent Shark Attacks.'' Elfy Scott. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref> Sharks are important to the ecosystem and killing them harms the ecosystem.<ref name="cullconserve" /><ref>{{cite web| url = https://eu.oceana.org/en/importance-sharks| title = The Importance of Sharks {{!}} Oceana Europe}} Eu.oceana.org. ''The Importance of Sharks in the Ecosystem.'' Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref name="Schetzer" />