'Curtains of death': NSW shark nets catch more than 80 per cent non target species

Warning: This story contains images that some readers may find distressing.

More than 20 endangered turtles, a dolphin and a humpback whale were entangled in New South Wales shark nets last year.

Marine advocacy groups are calling for the "curtains of death" designed to protect swimmers from sharks to be removed after a new report on the 2021-2022 season found 325 of the 376 animals caught in them were non-targeted, critically endangered species.

"Here we have the NSW Government actively continuing their killing nets off our coasts, targeting all marine life whose path they cross with a cruel, painful and barbaric end," said Sea Shepherd Australia's Managing Director Jeff Hansen.

19 vulnerable green turtles were caught in shark nets across NSW.

"Australia has a global responsibility to protect vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered species."

The NSW shark net program currently consists of 51 nets from Newcastle to Wollongong that are used for eight months each year.

The nets are removed for four months of the annual migration of humpback whales in a bid to reduce harm.

Great hammerhead sharks which are critically endangered were caught and killed in NSW shark nets this year.

Here's a breakdown of the animals caught and killed this season, according to the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Critically endangered:

28 White Sharks caught, 18 killed
14 Grey nurse sharks caught, 5 killed
2 Great hammerhead sharks caught and killed

Endangered:

16 Leatherback turtles caught, 5 killed
4 Loggerhead turtles, 2 killed
1 humpback killed

Vulnerable:

19 Green turtles caught, 14 killed

Protected:

1 common dolphin killed

The NSW DPI 2021/22 report revealed 62 per cent of animals died in the nets, with the rest released alive.

The nets caught 51 of the three targeted species – white, bull and tiger sharks.

A number of rays were caught and killed in shark nets across NSW beaches.

Sea Shepherd Australia is calling on the government to permanently remove the shark nets in NSW and to finalise the state's commitment to modern, non-lethal technologies such as drone surveillance.

"It's time the NSW Government left 1930's solutions in the dark ages and scrapped these curtains of death now."

9News.com.au has contacted the NSW government for comment.

Swimmer protection

Great white sharks alone have been responsible for all fatal NSW shark attacks over the last two years.

Earlier this year, a famed Sydney ocean swim was cancelled after a swimmer was fatally mauled by a shark off Little Bay, in the city's eastern suburbs.

NSW recorded the highest number of unprovoked attacks in 2021, with eight in total according to Taronga Zoo's Australian Shark-Incident Database.

According to the Global Shark Attack File, NSW saw two fatalities in both 2021 and 2020.

In 2020 NSW saw a total of eight unprovoked attacks.