The Big Mesh

Production by Katja Schreiber

While KwaZulu-Natal’s gill nets protect bathers from shark attack, the same nets threaten the province’s sensitive marine life.
The nets work as fishing devices, but rather than merely killing sharks — of which the vast majority are harmless to humans — they trap a wide variety of other marine animals as well. Dolphins, rays, whales, and even critically endangered turtles are all suffering. With bathers facing a 1% risk of shark attack, can the use of shark nets be justified at the expense of our rich marine ecosystem?