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Ului may force removal of more shark nets

Fisheries' officers will decide today whether to pull more shark control equipment from the Queensland coast because of Tropical Cyclone Ului.

The manager of Queensland's shark control program, Tony Ham, says nets and drum lines have already been pulled out in south-east Queensland, because some have broken loose in large swells.

It is the first time shark control equipment has been removed since 1962.

Mr Ham says there are 54 shark drum lines off central Queensland and it is not an easy job to collect them.

"It is not a five minute job to get them out of the water and get them back on land," he said.

"We will just keep a watching brief on that I am hopeful that the cyclone slows down and doesn't move too much further."

Mr Ham says a decision will be made today on whether to remove the drum lines.

"Certainly the afternoon would be the latest decision time because we have got to have the time to get them out," he said.

"I'm keeping an eye on the weather at the moment and talking to the contractors.

"We will just be guided by firstly what we see in the weather and secondly by how they feel about the weather conditions and go from there."

- ABC

© ABC 2010

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