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Concern for swimmers has prompted Omaha Beach Surf Life Saving Club members to urge fishers to keep a close eye on their set nets.
On May 12, lifeguards picked up a stray net that had floated to within 200 metres of the shoreline, directly in front of the club.
Lifeguard Matt Craig says the net was spotted during a junior training session two days earlier and slowly drifted into a position where it was of serious concern.
“All it would take is a swimmer to get tangled in the net and, even if they were a confident swimmer, they could drown in the surf,” Matt says.
“The nets also pose a threat to boat propellers and are an unnecessary danger to marine life.”
The net found at Omaha was around 10 metres long and only marked by two milk bottles.
“It was too heavy to drag, so we had to lift it into a boat to bring in, and it was full of decomposing fish. I imagine it was set at the north end of the beach, but people don’t realise how strong the current is and it draws everything towards the surf club.”
Matt said this was not the first time that a set net had drifted into the area.
He added that Insite Security monitored Omaha Beach and had encountered people setting nets during the summer ban on set netting, which runs from Labour Day weekend to the end of Easter annually.
Fisheries NZ advises that the following rules apply to set netting:
• Nets must not be baited.
• Nets must not exceed 60 metres in length.
• Nets must not be set within 60 metres of another net.
• Each end of a set net must have a surface float marked permanently and legibly with the fisher’s initial and surname (only one float is required for fyke nets).
• Nets must not be used in a wa that causes fish to be stranded by the falling tide.
• Only one set net (max. 60m) and one bait net (max. 10m with a mesh size of 50 mm or less) can be carried on a boat at any one time.
• The use of stakes to secure nets is prohibited.
• No person may set or possess more than one set net.
• Nets used either individually or jointly must not extend across more than one-quarter the width of any river, stream, channel, bay or sound.
