Operation
During July 2018, 20 SMART drumlines were deployed for 24 days at Ballina-Lennox Head and 15 SMART drumlines for 27 days at Evans Head. Environmental conditions determined how long SMART drumlines were deployed on any given day, ranging from 5:23h to 10:26h. On average, SMART drumlines were deployed daily for 8:24h at Ballina-Lennox Head and 8:40h at Evans Head.
Total catches
During July 2018, 27 target sharks were caught (Table 1): one female Tiger Shark from Ballina-Lennox Head, and 26 White Sharks (13 male and 13 female) from Ballina-Lennox Head (11 individuals) and Evans Head (15 individuals). Similar catches were seen at these locations during July 2017. The total number of target sharks caught on SMART drumlines since 8 December 2016 is 252 White Sharks, 40 Tiger Sharks and 9 Bull Sharks.
Two non-target animals (Shortfin Mako Sharks) were caught at Ballina-Lennox Head (Table 1). The total number of non-target animals caught since 8 December 2016 is 129 individuals from 13 species.
All animals were released alive.
Comments
When the contractor responded to six alerts that had no catch, they found that two hooks had no bait, three hooks had the bait fully intact, and one hook had 50% of the bait remaining.
One SMART drumline failed to set off an alert at Boulders Beach, Ballina on 27 July 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.
All other caught animals triggered an alert to the DPI contractors who responded and were at the SMART drumline within an average of 19 minutes.
Table 1: The date and time of capture of species and their sizes (total length in m), sex, and status during the month of July 2018.
Beach name | Date | Time | Species | Size (TL) and sex | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballina to Lennox Head | |||||
Lennox Head Beach | 14/07/2018 | 10:07 | White Shark | 3.5; Female | Alive |
Boulders Beach | 27/07/2018 | 15:47 | White Shark* | 2.6; Female | Alive |
Sharpes Beach | 16/07/2018 24/07/2018 28/07/2018 | 11.53 08:05 14:35 | Shortfin Mako Shark White Shark Shortfin Mako Shark | 2.0; Female 2.1; Female 1.5; Male | Alive Alive Alive |
Angels Beach | 25/07/2018 25/07/2018 | 07:07 10:26 | White Shark Tiger Shark | 2.0; Male 3.9; Female | Alive Alive |
Shelly Beach | 18/07/2018 | 08:48 | White Shark | 1.9; Male | Alive |
Lighthouse Beach | 15/07/2018 | 12.22 | White Shark | 3.2; Male | Alive |
South Ballina Beach | 18/07/2018 26/07/2018 26/07/2018 30/07/2018 31/07/2018 | 12:02 12:26 12:48 15:01 09:19 | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark | 2.7; Female 3.1; Male 2.0; Female 1.7; Male 3.2; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive |
Evans Head | |||||
Joggly Point to Shark Bay | 18/07/2018 21/07/2018 24/07/2018 24/07/2018 27/07/2018 29/07/2018 30/07/2018 | 12:01 08:01 07:53 10:50 10:20 11:54 08:13 | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark | 2.4; Female 2.5; Male 1.7; Male 2.5; Male 2.5; Female 2.8; Male 2.1; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive |
Main Beach | 10/07/2018 20/07/2018 30/07/2018 | 14:04 08:15 08:32 | White Shark White Shark White Shark | 3.1; Female 2.7; Male 2.7; Female | Alive Alive Alive |
Airforce Beach | 20/07/2018 24/07/2018 24/07/2018 25/07/2018 30/07/2018 | 13:09 07:43 15:18 13:38 15:15 | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark | 2.4; Male 3.3; Male 1.8; Female 1.7; Male 2.2; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive |
* indicates where no alert was received and the shark was found during retrieval at the end of the day.