A poor soul was killed by a shark at Sydney’s Long Reef on Saturday.

A local father was out surfing when he was fatally attacked. Whilst rare, people continue to be killed by sharks in Australia. Rather than expressing sympathy and sadness for a man’s life lost whilst enjoying an innocent and much-loved past time, many idiotic social media commentators could hardly wait to offer the usual ghoulish and uncaring bon mots: ‘well, the ocean is the shark’s domain’; ‘he knew the risks’; ‘shouldn’t have been in shark’s backyard’ etc. What a load of crap. These self-styled enviro reflections are facile, uncaring, and meaningless They serve only to compound the horror and grief the victim’s family must feel.

The ocean is also our domain, just like the mountains are not the sole domain of the grizzly bear, the jungle the sole domain of a tiger, or the bush the sole domain of the taipan. Humans and animals share the natural world.

I have surfed, fished, spear fished, and dived in the ocean my whole life. I’ve had a few shark encounters. Yes, I know there are risks but this is no reason why society should not take steps to mitigate these risks through shark prevention measures such as drum lines, and yes, nets.

Despite this recent fatality at an area that was netted, nets do work, as evidenced by the low number of deaths at netted beached vs un-netted beaches. The man’s sad death has prompted a pause on the planned net removal trial with NSW Premier Minns quick to make a public announcement that the trial will be deferred. There are many who decry the use of nets because they can kill sharks, and not infrequently there is fatal by-catch of marine mammals and turtles. By-catch occurs but does not threaten species populations. Exploitative commercial fishing practices are a thousand times more threatening to all forms of marine life. There are ample statistics available on shark catch and by-catch available to show this.

The nets are used in a tiny fraction of our enormous coastline around metropolitan beaches. As for dangerous sharks being caught in nets, most thinking members of the public don’t see this is a too high a price to pay for increasing public safety.

I’m an ocean lover and environmentalist. I love marine life, including sharks, but I love my fellow humans more.

There is a ridiculous amount of misinformation about shark numbers in circulation. Anyone who spends any appreciable time on the ocean, i.e. professional fisherman, recreational fisherman, surfers, paddlers etc. will tell you that sharks are as prolific, if not more prolific, than they ever were. This is the consequence of various fisheries management policies and other biological factors. Sharks are amongst the oldest species on the planet, having outlived the dinosaurs, and will outlive humans. There is strong observational evidence to suggest Great White and Bull Shark numbers are actually increasing. There are many desk-bound ‘researchers’ who dispute this and will openly lie about shark population data to prosecute a false narrative. These religious zealots believe a shark’s life is equal to, if not superior to a human life. It’s hard to have rational conversation with someone that believes this.

By-catch is a trickier issue. Turtles, seals, and dolphins sometimes get caught in nets. This presents more genuine moral and environmental concerns but for the zealots there is no additional complexity. On their ludicrous logic a shark’s life is equal to a human’s, so it must be that a shark is equal to a blue whale, which is equal to a jellyfish. Drum lines and drone use eliminate mammal and turtle by-catch and are the way of the future but for now at least there remains a role for nets in heavily populated coastal areas.

Inter-species competition is a reality of life. Habitat degradation and overharvesting of the oceans and other human impacts on marine life are inevitable. Sadly, with our fixation on population growth, there will be increasing habitat incursion and dwindling animal populations. We do need to address this. Similarly, the proponents of continued population growth need to understand this basic fact, yet seem to think we can maintain animal populations whilst flooding the earth with humans. These are incompatible aims.

Shark nets are used in a tiny fraction of the coastline and there is no evidence to suggest that they have a significant impact on any marine species. The safety they provide is however supported by the relatively low incidence of attacks on netted beaches as compared to un-netted beaches.

Nets should remain in use in metropolitan beaches. If they can help avoid even one fatality, they are worth keeping as the relative cost to other species is not significant enough to discontinue their use.

Andrew Christopher is a lawyer and writer