A beloved beach suburb on the New South Wales Central Coast is fuming as shark nets return to its shores today, despite the local council voting against them and years of campaigning from a local MP.

They say the government simply isn’t listening.

Shark nets return along NSW’s coastline on September 1, but the community around this popular tourist beach has had enough – not just for the sake of a beloved seal that’s captured the hearts of locals, but over mounting frustration that their voices are being ignored altogether.

At the centre of the fury is a single 150m-long net that Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said offers little real protection for a beach stretching more than a kilometre while putting local marine life, including a beloved young seal named Terri, in harm’s way.

Terri the Seal has become Terrigal Beach’s latest local celebrity, drawing crowds to the beach and rockpool since July.

By day, he lounges on the sand, inspiring local art and delighting tourists.

But it’s his nightly feeding habits that have raised alarm about shark nets going back in.

Mr Crouch, who has been fighting for a trial removal of shark nets on the Central Coast for more than four years, said the community’s patience has run out.

“My community is frustrated,” he said.

“I wrote to Minister Moriarty last week – zero response or acknowledgment from the government requesting to look at a trial of no shark nets. I’ve raised this issue at every previous season but had no response.

“We’ve got a Minister that’s not listening and a government that’s not listening to us either.”

He said the 150m net gave beachgoers a dangerous false sense of security.

“There’s a false sense of security; people think the beaches completely protect them, like it’s a completely netted area. People are going out there with that misconception.

“And people see the damage the shark nets do to all the other innocent marine life, every dolphin that swims into a shark net drowns. Our community has had enough of seeing innocent marine life trapped for what’s a false sense of security.”

Last week, the Central Coast Council formally resolved to call on the NSW Government not to install a shark net at Terrigal Beach specifically – a position backed by councillors across the political divide, including Labor members, despite the call being directed at a state Labor government.

Councillor Jared Wright said the 150m net was simply inadequate for a beach of Terrigal’s size.

“Terri the Seal has become a local icon; people come from across the region to walk along the Terrigal Boardwalk and see him playing in the water or lying in the sun,” Mr Wright said.

“It’s a good example of the type of marine life that can be caught in the net as Terri goes out to feed each night.

“It’s the same net that is only 150m long and provides minimal protection for a beach that is over a kilometre in length. Sharks can swim over, under or around it.”

Mr Wright said the council had invited Minister Moriarty to meet with councillors to discuss the issue, but the request was declined. The council also wrote to the Minister last week pressing for an urgent rethink for Terrigal, but had received no response since.

He pointed to nearby Avoca Beach as proof alternatives already work on the Central Coast.

Avoca runs a 365-day-a-year drone program alongside a shark listening station and a SMART drum line – with no shark net at all.

“We need to have this as the standard on all of our local beaches,” Mr Wright said.

Animal Justice Party candidate for Terrigal, Simone Cooper, said wildlife like beloved Terri the Seal’s presence made the stakes impossible to ignore.

“No nets should be going back out this year,” Ms Cooper said.

“They are outdated and indiscriminately kill our marine life. Shark nets don’t just catch sharks.”

“They catch seals, turtles, dolphins and other marine animals, including threatened species. We already know that fur seals have been caught and killed in nets on the Central Coast.”

Data from the Humane World for Animals revealed that during the 2024 and 2025 season, of the 223 marine animals caught in NSW shark nets, 89 per cent of them were not targeted sharks, with 149 innocent marine species like dolphins, sea turtles and critically endangered grey nurse sharks killed.

Despite a significant state investment in shark mitigation measures this year, no new beaches on The Central Coast received funding for the upcoming season, Councillor Wright revealed.

Mr Wright said the community did not want to wait for tragedy before the government acted.

“We do not want to have to wait until a tragedy occurs before the NSW Government acts on this issue here on The Central Coast.”

Minister Moriarty’s office has been approached for comment.

Read related topics:Sydney