Humans have adapted over time to learn how to live on a planet with animals that can be dangerous. However, oftentimes this adaptation comes at the cost of animal safety and conservation. Groups of people in New South Wales, Australia, are demanding a smarter way to protect beachgoers from sharks that does not harm marine life.
What's happening?
In an effort to keep beachgoers and surfers safe from sharks, the NSW government had placed shark nets in the water, designed to trap sharks from getting too close to the coastline, reported the Guardian.
These nets are installed up and down the coast across 51 beaches from the months of September to May every single year, according to the Guardian. However, numerous groups of people — from scientists to marine conservation organizations — are demanding that these antishark nets be removed, as they have been detrimental to many types of marine life, per the Guardian.
What's more, there are numerous other ways to keep beachgoers and surfers safe from sharks that don't include negatively impacting marine life. Australian Marine Conservation Society shark scientist Leonardo Guida explained to the Guardian that the Australian government has many safer alternatives available to them, yet it continues to use the nets.
"We know they don't work. We know that sharks can swim under them or around them," Emma Hurst, Animal Justice party legislator, stated to the Guardian about the antishark nets.
Why are antishark nets concerning?
It was found that the antishark nets, just last summer, were catching nontarget species such as dolphins and turtles. In fact, 90% of the animals caught in the nets were not sharks, and more than half of those animals died from getting caught, per the Guardian.
Risks associated with marine ecosystems can have great impacts on humans. An article by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went so far as trying to place economic value on entire marine ecosystems, considering the fact that they play a role in "supplying our food to tempering our climate to regulating the air we breathe." Being able to put a price on the services marine ecosystems grant humans can improve decision-making on policy.
What's being done about marine conservation?
Many of the groups calling out the NSW government to remove the antishark nets are proposing other solutions, which include tagging and tracking sharks so that beachgoers can be aware of risks on the spot, as well as personal shark deterrents, per the Guardian. Additionally, having many groups advocating for the protection of marine species is a great form of collective action and has resulted in the antishark nets being removed a month early — and hopefully totally in the future.
Ways you can take action include doing research on political candidates and using your vote to elect politicians who care about the well-being of our ecosystems, especially at the local level. Additionally, you can make changes in your diet to eat seafood that is deemed sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, based on how it is caught and harvested.
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