There are calls for shark nets to be pulled from all New South Wales beaches after the state government announced it was removing the controversial mesh on the north coast following public opposition.

On Friday the state primary industries minister, Niall Blair, said locals were unhappy about recent trials of the nets, which had proved to be less effective at catching target sharks and harmed more marine life than Smart drumlines.

“The local beach going community have said loud and clear they do not support another trial of shark nets on the north coast,” he said in a statement.

The nets would stay on beaches between Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong, he said.

The minister has the power to put the nets back at any time if shark activity increases or beachgoers change their mind.

Up to 35 drumlines will remain between Lennox and Evans Head in a two-year trial ending mid-2020. Helicopters and drones will continue to monitor the coast at weekends and during school holidays.

Scientists are currently tracking more than 400 sharks including 300 white pointers caught using drumlines and tagged.

Wildlife activists labelled the announcement a win for “common sense”.

In the first shark net trial, which ran between December 2016 to May 2017, only 3% of the animals caught in the netting were target sharks.

“Data supports how ineffective these nets really are and they have never been able to demonstrate effectiveness in terms of ocean user safety,” Sea Shepherd’s NSW coordinator, Allyson Jennings, said in a statement. “Shark nets are nothing but passive fishing devices which kill marine life.”

The NSW Greens called on the government to abandon the shark net program entirely and move towards a non-lethal option.

“With the next season of the shark meshing program off Sydney beaches due to start in September, the NSW government should leave the nets out of the water and engage with the community to put in place an alternative plan now,” the party’s marine spokesman, Justin Field, said in a statement.