Many Australians head to the beach at summer, but the spectre of shark attack is never far away.
Mr Kennedy's claim is overreach. Smart drum lines are a new technology, untested in the Australian environment. But the traditional drum lines upon which smart drum lines are based are proven to reduce the incidence of shark attack. Although some of the available evidence relates to joint use of drum lines and nets, it cannot be said with certainty that the smart drum lines will not make the beach safer. Smart drum lines do result in shark deaths and put other marine life at risk, although they also allow the possibility of officers attending to set free animals that have been caught. And as Mr Kennedy acknowledged in the same interview, the threat to wildlife from drum lines is less than that of the nets already deployed in NSW.
Fact Check: Are smart drum lines just a PR exercise?
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