A concerning amount of marine life is being tangled up in shark nets off the Hunter's coastline.
From the 174 marine creatures caught in nets between Stockton and Shelly Beach on the Central Coast last financial year, only 16 were target sharks (great white, bull and tiger).
Five were dolphins or turtles, while the rest were other shark species and rays.
A number of the marine creatures had already died.
During 2017-18, there were no shark attacks along the Hunter's coast.
The new figures from the Department of Primary Industries has prompted fresh calls for shark nets to be removed.
“The facts are in. We have ample evidence that the shark netting program in NSW is really a culling program and primarily it is culling rays, turtles, and non-threatening sharks. Shark nets do little to improve beach safety but take a terrible toll on local marine life,” Greens MP Justin Field said.
"I’m calling on NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair to abandon the shark net program and to redirect those resources into more effective, non-lethal technologies, including the targeted use of SMART drumlines," he said.
The NSW government says it's committed to shark nets between Newcastle and Wollongong as an effective way to protect beachgoers.