Member for Tweed, Geoff Provest is encouraging beachgoers to have their say on a suite of shark mitigation measures currently in place in the region.
“The NSW Government has committed more than $85 million to continue its Shark Management Program until 2026 and we want to engage the community to strike the right balance, to protect people with minimal harm to wildlife,” Mr Provest said.
“This annual survey aims to capture local sentiments about the current approach and the feedback from coastal Councils, stakeholders and residents will help guide future decision making.”
In 2021 to 2022, the NSW Government committed $21.4 million to roll out successfully trialled technologies along the NSW coastline.
These technologies include drone surveillance, SMART (Shark-Management-Alert-in-Real-Time) drumlines and shark listening stations which detect and track tagged animals, while issuing alerts to the public.
The Government also announced a boost of $4.4 million in the same period, for additional mitigation methods, as well as ongoing funding to continue the overarching program.
“We want to hear what people think about the program so far, specifically whether it gives them confidence that we’re reducing the risk of human-shark interactions.”
The survey will take no more than 10 minutes to complete and is a great opportunity to offer your thoughts about how we can better manage our oceans and beaches.
To fill out the survey, visit the NSW Shark Smart website before Thursday 16th June 2022.
For more information on the NSW Shark Management Program, please visit www.sharksmart.nsw.gov.au