Of the creatures found tangled in the nets, 135 were dead.

Humane Society International has urged the NSW government to scrap the shark-net program, which covers 51 beaches from Wollongong to Newcastle.

A government report said 238 marine creatures were killed across the program in the past year.

The dead included an endangered scalloped hammerhead shark and two loggerhead turtles at Stockton, two vulnerable green turtles at Caves Beach and an endangered grey nurse shark at Lakes Beach on the Central Coast.

In the Hunter and Central Coast, only 13 of the 219 creatures caught in the nets were target species. That is, species that the nets are intended to deter.

The target species caught included 12 great whites and one bull shark. Great whites were caught in nets at Stockton, Nobbys, Blacksmiths and Catherine Hill Bay.

Lawrence Chlebeck, marine campaigner for Humane Society International, said the nets provide "a false sense of security".

"It's a fallacy that the nets keep sharks away from where people are using the water. First of all, a high proportion of sharks caught are on the inside of the nets. And secondly, 94 per cent of the catch are non-target animals - things like turtles and rays.

"These nets could even be attracting large sharks to the area because of struggling marine wildlife caught in the nets."

Mr Chlebeck hopes the shark-net debate "gets moved past the point where it's a political football".

"This is not a conversation that we're putting sharks above people. These nets don't protect people - it's important to realise that. There are better ways to protect people in the water that don't involve harming marine wildlife. We need to move to that."

Hunter Surf Life Saving president Henry Scruton said he believed "a human life is worth more than a shark".

"I think a lot more about humans than I do about the big fish in the water," Mr Scruton said.

He said interactions between "big fish and humans are still quite high".

"To me, the nets need to be there to protect the humans," he said.

"But it is sad when some of the [non-target] animals get caught in it. That's most unfortunate.

"These are my own personal thoughts, not Surf Life Saving."

He believed the nets were put there to deter sharks from inhabiting areas that humans use.

"Sharks are constantly moving up and down, but they do have a tendency - so I've been told - to settle in one area if they feel comfortable," he said.

"We've got more and more people using our beaches now than ever before. I'd like to think those people are reasonably protected while they're out there."

The Department of Primary Industries report said the aim of the shark-net program was to "reduce the threat of shark interactions".

"The only fatality at a meshed beach occurred over 60 years ago, but the nets are not a guarantee that shark encounters will not occur at meshed beaches," the report said.

A department spokesperson said its annual shark-net report "did not identify a need for any amendments" to the program.

"There were no serious injuries from shark bites at a netted beach in this region over the 12-month period," the spokesperson said.

"According to Surf Life Saving NSW, nearly seven million people visited those beaches in 2018/19, so this is a good outcome."

The NSW government's $16 million shark management strategy was trialling "new and emerging technologies to increase protection for beachgoers, while minimising the impact on sharks and other marine life".

"The strategy includes trials of shark detection and deterrent technologies, as well as funding science, research, education and community awareness."

Mr Chlebeck said the Humane Society had been "speaking to state MPs from shark net electorates".

"I think we're making really good headway," he said.

"Both sides of the aisle are against the continued use of the nets. The major concern is replacing the nets with an effective alternative. Alternatives do exist. We're trying to build up support in those electorates that have shark nets. And I think we're getting close to getting them removed."