the suffering and cruelty that nets inflict upon animals, such as lacerations, stress, pain, and disease. They suggest alternatives such as surf lifesaving patrols, public education on shark behaviour, radio signals, sonar technology and electric nets. Political scientist Christopher Neff notes, "Internationally, shark nets have been labeled a 'key threatening process' for killing endangered species." He adds: " ... killing endangered species to boost public confidence or to show government action is not workable. It is a disservice to the public." Jessica Morris of Humane Society International calls shark nets a "knee-jerk reaction" and says, "sharks are top order predators that play an important role in the functioning of marine ecosystems. We need them for healthy oceans." Sea World Research & Rescue Foundation also oppose the use of shark nets to cull shark populations "In an ideal world we would like for there to be no culling of sharks in Australia and around the world however, this is not a reality. We understand the pressure on governments to protect swimmers through the use of shark control programs. We continue our stance against shark nets and maintain our rescue operations to save dolphins, whales, turtles that become entrapped within them, along with working with the authoritative agencies to research improved methods which will lessen the impact on our marine life". However bycatch from shark nets is minor compared to bycatch from other activities. On average 15 Great white sharks are caught by the NSW and Queensland shark control programme each year, compared to 186 caught in Australia from other activities. Australia's commercial shark fishing industry is catching over 1200 tonne of shark each year, of which 130 are Great white sharks. The NSW prawn trawling industry alone results in 64 tonne of shark as bycatch each year, with two thirds dying. Tuna and swordfish longline fishing off the coast of South Africa reported 39,000 to 43,000 sharks died each year between 1995 and 2005. Sharksavers estimates that in total 50 million sharks are caught unintentionally each year as bycatch by the commercial fishing industry. Cost Total cost for the Shark netting program in NSW for the 2009/10 year was approximately AUD $1m, which included the cost of the nets, contractors, observers and shark technician, shark meshing equipment (dolphin pingers and whale alarms etc.), and compliance audit activities. For the 51 beaches protected, this represents a financial cost of approximately AUD$20,000 per