Operation
During September 2018, 20 SMART drumlines were deployed for 19 days at Ballina-Lennox Head and 15 SMART drumlines for 25 days at Evans Head. Environmental conditions determined how long SMART drumlines were deployed on any given day, ranging from 5:06h to 9:23h. On average, SMART drumlines were deployed daily for 8:15h at Ballina-Lennox Head and 8:12h at Evans Head.
Total catches
During September 2018, 13 target sharks were caught (Table 1): one female Tiger Shark from Ballina-Lennox Head, and 12 White Sharks (5 female and 7 male) from Ballina-Lennox Head (3 individuals) and Evans Head (9 individuals). The total number of target sharks caught on SMART drumlines since 8 December 2016 is 287 White Sharks, 42 Tiger Sharks and 9 Bull Sharks.
Six non-target animals were caught (Table 1), including one Common Blacktip Shark from Ballina-Lennox Head and five Smooth Hammerhead Sharks from Ballina-Lennox (4 individuals) and Evans Head (1 individual). The total number of non-target animals caught since 8 December 2016 is 136 individuals from 13 species.
All animals were released alive.
Comments
When the contractor responded to 13 alerts that had no catch, they found that seven hooks had no bait, two hooks had the bait fully intact, and four hooks had 50% of the bait remaining.
All but one of the caught animals triggered an alert to the DPI contractors who responded and were at the SMART drumline within an average of 18 minutes.
One SMART drumline failed to set off an alert at Airforce Beach, Evans Head on 20 September 2018. When the contractor arrived at the respective drumline for retrieval at the end of the day, a White Shark was found alive on the line (Table 1). It was tagged and released immediately.
Table 1: The date and time of capture of species and their sizes (total length in m), sex, and status during the month of September 2018.
Beach name | Date | Time | Species | Size (TL) and sex | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballina to Lennox Head | |||||
Lennox Head Beach | 19/09/2018 22/09/2018 23/09/2018 | 12:13 12:59 12:51 | White Shark Smooth Hammerhead Smooth Hammerhead | 2.3;Male 1.7;Male 1.6;Female | Alive Alive Alive |
Boulders Beach | 08/09/2018 | 08:31 | White Shark | 2.5;Male | Alive |
Sharpes Beach | 28/09/2018 | 07:42 | Smooth Hammerhead | ~1.6;unknowna | Alive |
Shelly Beach | 18/09/2018 | 09:47 | Common Blacktip | 3.0;Male | Alive |
South Ballina Beach | 06/09/2018 09/09/2018 23/09/2018 | 11:43 08:29 09:57 | White Shark Tiger Shark Smooth Hammerhead | 2.3;Female 1.9;Female 1.9;Female | Alive Alive Alive |
Evans Head | |||||
Joggly Point to Shark Bay | 24/09/2018 | 10:32 | Smooth Hammerhead | 1.8;Female | Alive |
Main Beach | 08/09/2018 13/09/2018 20/09/2018 22/09/2018 22/09/2018 | 10:29 10:58 12:07 09:05 13:16 | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark | 2.1;Female 1.7;Male 2.3;Male 2.4;Female 2.6;Male | Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive |
Airforce Beach | 07/09/2018 08/09/2018 09/09/2018 20/09/2018 | 13:33 12:27 12:22 15:35* | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark | 2.1;Female 2.2;Female 1.6;Male 2.1;Male | Alive Alive Alive Alive |
a This individual dropped off the hook as the animal was being secured alongside the boat, therefore size was estimated.
* indicates where no alert was received and the shark was found during retrieval of SMART drumlines at the end of the day.