Shark strategy: NSW to spend $16m on sonar buoys, surveillance and science

Twenty 'listening stations' will be installed at beaches to provide real-time tracking data on tagged sharks, and eco-friendly nets will be rolled out

In-water sonar technology that warns when a shark is nearby and new "shark listening" devices will be enlisted by the New South Wales government to try to combat shark attacks this summer.

A five-year $16m program has been announced by the minister for primary industries, Niall Blair, in a year when there have been 13 attacks on the north coast of the state alone and one fatality. Last year there were three attacks in the same area.