NSW to step up shark patrols at beaches

Additional aerial patrols will scan for sharks at beaches on the NSW north coast during the school holidays.

Between Saturday and October 6, the government will fund extra shark surveillance in waters from Byron Bay to Evans Head, Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said.

There have been 13 shark attacks in NSW so far this year, up from three in 2014, but only one person - 41-year-old surfer Tadashi Nakahara - has been killed.