Area protection aims to make sure that humans and sharks do not end up sharing the same space. There are various subcategories of area mitigation: spatial deterrents (e.g., drumlines, shark nets), detection/spatial observation (e.g., people spotting sharks from planes, drones, or from shore), and exclusion barriers (e.g., swimming enclosures). This type of mitigation is usually implemented by councils or local governments, rather than the individual.

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Area mitigation can be very difficult to scientifically test as they are broad in scale, and are generally implemented for long periods, which makes it hard to implement scientific experimental controls. While there are many different area mitigation strategies, overall, the ability of area measures to reduce shark-bite risk is the least well-understood from a scientific perspective.