CITY of Coffs Harbour councillor Paul Amos will call for an extension of the State Government’s shark monitoring program to cover the northern section of the Local Government Area (LGA).
Cr Amos has lodged a Notice of Motion to be presented at the Council’s 26 February Ordinary Meeting.
In it he notes the SMART (Shark-Management-Alert-in-Real-Time) drumline program operates between Sawtell and Diggers Beach, but not at any local beaches north of Diggers.
“While this provides important protection for central and southern beaches, it leaves the northern sector of the LGA without equivalent monitoring and early-warning capability,” Cr Amos said.
He will ask the Council to acknowledge that the northern beaches of the LGA are “heavily used by residents, visitors, surfers and ocean swimmers, and form an important part of the region’s recreational, tourism and coastal lifestyle offering”.
Cr Amos will also ask the Council to seek Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh’s support in making representations on the City’s behalf, requesting the NSW Government extend SMART drumline coverage through to Corindi/Red Rock.
“The northern beaches – including areas around Moonee, Woolgoolga, Arrawarra, Corindi and Red Rock – are widely used for swimming, surfing, fishing and other ocean-based recreation,” he said.
“These locations are also significant to the local visitor economy and to the lifestyle expectations of residents living in the northern part of the LGA.
“The absence of SMART drumline coverage in these areas creates an inequity in coastal safety infrastructure.”
According to the Department of Primary Industries, the NSW Shark Management Program is the largest and most comprehensive shark mitigation program in the world.
It includes year-round deployment of 305 SMART drumlines across 19 coastal LGAs from the Tweed to Bega, seasonal shark nets at 50 beaches, a statewide drone surveillance program in partnership with Surf Life Saving NSW, shark listening stations, funding for mitigation and trauma response capability, and ongoing community education through the SharkSmart program.
Under the SMART initiative, drumlines are set every morning (weather dependent) and collected before sunset. When an animal is caught, an alert is triggered and contractors then attend to the animal.
Target sharks (being white, tiger and bull sharks) are tagged and released around one kilometre offshore, and non-target animals are released in situ.
By Mike HELY
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