A New South Wales surf lifesaving club has called for improved shark safety measures following an attack on a young surfer on the northern coast.

Sam Morgan, a promising junior surfer, was mauled at Lighthouse Beach in East Ballina on Tuesday evening but managed to make it back to the beach, where others came to his aid.

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His surf lifesaving club, Le-Ba Boardriders Club, called for more shark detection and deterrent measures in the area.

“I don’t know what it takes, it’s like a revolving door at the moment, it’s just going round and round,” Don Munro said.

“It’s taken the Minister and the Premier, I think, quite a long time to really move on it.

“Realistically, I mean getting something done immediately; they’ve talked about a lot of things now that they want to implement, let’s see it happen now.

“Yes, we want that to happen now, we need that to happen now.”

The 20-year-old suffered serious wounds to his left thigh and was initially taken to Lismore Hospital before he was airlifted to the Gold Coast.

Mr Morgan underwent surgery at a Gold Coast Hospital on Tuesday and remained in a stable condition in an induced coma.

It was believed a bull shark, approximately 3m in length, and apparently seen in the area earlier in the day, was responsible.

Ballina Mayor David Wright said safety measures should be improved to avoid the traumatic incident.

“These are injuries I think, emotionally, you’ll never get over,” he said.

At least 14 shark attacks have been recorded in NSW this year – three at East Ballina beach alone.

This included a serious attack on bodyboarder Mat Lee in July at the same beach and a fatality nearby, when Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara, 41, was killed at Shelly Beach on February 9.

The Department of Primary Industries was reportedly in Ballina on the day of the attack to discuss the installation of shark nets, according to Sky News.

Police closed Lighthouse Beach for 24 hours and have been investigating the attack.

A NSW police spokesperson told The New Daily that they would work with the government to make sure there was no further risk of attacks.

“In terms of shark attacks, we work with the Department of Primary Industries to work out if there is any risk to the community,” she said.

“And we will work with surf life saving – to keep the beach closed and make sure no one goes into the water.”