![\"Shark](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/19f87d233f50f09311dc60060c5eeb28.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nA veteran fisherman is warning the New South Wales government relying on drone technology will do little to prevent shark encounters.<\/p>\n
The advice comes after Bondi Beach was evacuated for the second time in two days following another great white shark sighting, prompting renewed concern about safety along Sydney’s coastline.<\/p>\n
It also follows a serious shark attack at nearby Coogee less than two weeks ago, where 34-year-old mother Leah Stewart was injured.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Wednesday, NSW Premier Chris Minns said the government was developing a large-scale shark monitoring program which will rely heavily on new technology.<\/p>\n
Mr Minns has described the proposal as potentially world-leading and said NSW wants to be at the forefront of shark detection.<\/p>\n
However, speaking to SkyNews.com.au, veteran spearfisherman Ryan Baker questioned how effective drones could be when water conditions deteriorate.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can’t spot sharks unless they are on the surface or if the water’s clean,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it’s on the surface or near the surface in dirty water, you’re going to spot it with a drone, but if it’s a few metres down you’ve got no chance of spotting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about plans for more sophisticated drones, Mr Baker remained unconvinced.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world-class drones are not going to do sh*t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Instead, he wants authorities to focus more attention on shark deterrent technology and independent testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only answer is proven shark deterrents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet people actually test shark deterrents in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop threatening people with $100,000 fines if they test shark deterrents in Australia, for starters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DPI needs to stop threatening people with fines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Baker raised his concerns after his own close encounter with a shark just days earlier while diving off Broughton Island near Port Stephens.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to fisherman, the shark initially appeared briefly before returning several times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were four of us spearfishing together at Broughton Island… it came in really quick,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was darting in and out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Baker said the shark eventually took a fish from a float line before turning towards him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt ended gaining the confidence and then ate one of the fish off the float line and then it came straight towards me with its mouth open after it had eaten the fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
The encounter was not an isolated one.<\/p>\n
Mr Baker said sharks were present throughout the day at multiple dive sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first spot we jumped in, there were three sharks spotted instantly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was already a shark under the boat before we even entered the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said his group later encountered several more sharks at other locations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve seen three sharks in the first spot and then another three in the next spot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to another spot, there was probably five or six sharks there probably a few metres from the boat when we started swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n
As debate grows over whether shark sightings are increasing or detection technology is simply improving, Mr Baker dismissed the latter explanation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are more sharks. It’s nothing to do with detecting sharks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Baker believes increasing shark numbers are linked to decades of protections for both sharks and their food sources.<\/p>\n
According to the fisherman, the latest Bondi sightings occurred as large schools of salmon moved along the coastline.<\/p>\n
\u201cSharks are protected. Protection equals more sharks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn winter we get a strange salmon plague near the beaches in massive schools that all the sharks feed on.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said whale migration was another major factor attracting great whites to NSW waters during winter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe great whites follow whales,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re always here, the great whites, but they’re more common in winter with the whale migration because they feed on the calves of the whales.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A veteran fisherman is warning the New South Wales government relying on drone technology will do little to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,1557,1796,30311,1098,30312,1981],"class_list":["post-38495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-chris-minns","tag-drones","tag-great-white-sharks","tag-nsw-government","tag-ryan-baker","tag-sharks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}