Story by The Lennox Wave.
Read The Lennox Wave’s full story here
FOR SEVERAL weeks locals have been finding plastic debris from the newly installed shark barrier strewn all over 7 Mile Beach.
People have been picking up floats, cable ties, netting (big and small pieces) all week. Much of the debris is clearly broken and worn and has come from the barrier itself—in other words, these are not discarded off-cuts and this is not a waste by-product of installation.
As one beach user noted: ‘Notice how every cable tie is worn and snapped – and less than a month in the water…The shark net is an environmental nightmare.’
The barrier is the responsibility of the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and they have decided to terminate the installation. They have issued a statement which says, in part, “Despite making significant progress in installing the Lennox Shark barrier, the manufacturers have advised NSW DPI that sand movement and swell have impacted the installation.
“The Eastern Wall of the Aquarius Barrier has broken free from the ground chain and will be removed by Global Marine Enclosures (GME). We are now in the process of working with GME to discontinue the shark barrier trial.”