Mr Besseling said it would be negligent to ignore a series of beach closures on the north coast following an increase in shark activity.

"It's more of an information gathering exercise, but it's important to start the conversation to see what measures are out there for us in the absence of any possible shark attack and the media which would surround it," he said.

"That's not to say we have a shark problem here, it's more about being proactive rather than having any knee-jerk reactions. Our beach lifestyle is important to Port Macquarie locals and the Hastings community in general.

"People want to know community leaders are looking at these sorts of things."

Mr Wilson took to social media during the week to express concern after local surfers had their own close encounter last weekend near Lake Cathie.

"The best case scenario is some form of personal repellent or deterrent that you wear while swimming or surfing; we need to talk about selective controls," he said.

"Whether that's nets, which I personally don't agree with, or whether it's drum lines, we need to start having the conversation.

"Lifeguards at Seal Beach in Los Angeles use drones to check beaches for sharks. It's not just us surfers, it's surf clubs, nippers, boardriders ... the ramifications for the broader community are more than what people are thinking about at the moment."

Mr Wilson said it was important to start having the conversation.

"My motivation for raising the subject is definitely not to benefit my business. If anything I would be better off to shut up and hope it goes away," he said.

"It's a good opportunity to show leadership as a community.

"It's funny you know, no one talks about beaches in south-east Queensland which have nets and drum lines all year, whereas in New South Wales we have nets between Newcastle and Wollongong for only six months a year. Queensland don't get criticized over their methods of control yet the subject seems to be taboo here."

In and around Port Macquarie over the past month or so has seen a large Great White spotted just off Lighthouse Beach.

"Ski paddlers were followed by a three-metre one just off north shore last Sunday, the Boardriders club cancelled a comp at North Wall because of what was believed to be a bull shark and there was a three-metre 'something' spotted last weekend at Lake Cathie," Mr Wilson said.

Local surfer Glen Lockery was knocked off his board at Shelly Beach in 2009 and the common belief is that there is just more people in the water.

"That's an argument that comes up all the time but I believe it is incorrect, the stats don't lie," Mr Wilson said.

"The average number of attacks in the last five years is triple that of the last 50. There's not triple the amount of population and there's not triple the amount of people in the water.

"Two mates and I had an encounter with this thing that was pretty bloody big in 2013. It was a lot wider than my board and came back for a second look and that was enough for us. There's no way I am paddling across the river anymore."

There is another argument humans have done it to themselves by overfishing, but the counter-argument is that great whites feed on old, sick and baby humpback whales.

"The humpback population has grown from its lowest point of a couple of hundred when whaling stopped in the 1960's to more than 20,000 today, yet the case of shark attacks or encounters with humans has increased."