Less than a week after a NSW teenager was mauled by a great white shark while surfing off a Ballina beach, the state government says it will deploy extra 'smart' drumlines in the shark attack hot spot.
In a bid to keep swimmers safe, NSW and Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said on Sunday up to 100 'smart' drumlines will placed along the NSW coastline with the focus on the northern beaches.
There are already 15 smart drumlines off NSW and another 85 will be rolled out as a direct response to last week's attack, Mr Blair said.
Teenager Cooper Allen was bitten last Monday by a great white shark while surfing off Lighthouse Beach.
Ballina mayor David Wright said despite the good weather conditions swimmers are still weary of the waters at Lighthouse beach even though drumlines were deployed the day after the attack.
"There are people everywhere except Lighthouse Beach," he told AAP on Sunday, while nearby Shelly Beach, Angels Beach and Seven Mile Beach were busy with swimmers.
Mr Wright said the drumlines were effective but need a DPI team each day to make it work.
Smart drumlines, which are baited hooks attached to buoys, work by sending alerts once a shark is hooked, with authorities then going out to tag the animal.
"Six sharks have been caught in the past six days. A two-metre shark was tagged today.
"(Drumlines) are a good short-term measure along with the aerial surveillance," Mr Wright said.
While many surfers want nets, many locals don't want to see pods of dolphins or whales getting trapped in them, he said.
Mr Blair rejected claims on Sunday that drumlines were ineffective and said the government is looking at all options.
"We've had a great success rate with smart drumlines, we've been able to tag numerous sharks and relocate them, but we're leaving all options on the table," he told reporters in Sydney.
"The smart drumline rollout will be prioritised on the North Coast in response to strong community support for the technology."
The government's rollout of the extra drumlines is in addition to the $16 million package of measures revealed earlier this year to protect beachgoers.
The Baird government will seek permission from the Commonwealth to deploy the controversial shark management system.
Five of the 11 recent attacks in northern NSW have occurred at Ballina beaches, including the death of Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara last February.
