Operation
During July 2019, 20 SMART drumlines were deployed for 23 days at Ballina-Lennox Head and 15 SMART drumlines for 23 days at Evans Head. Environmental conditions determined how long SMART drumlines were deployed on any given day, ranging from 5:04h to 10:10h. On average, SMART drumlines were deployed daily for 8:26h at Ballina-Lennox Head and 8:21h at Evans Head.
Catch
During July 2019, 25 target sharks were caught (Table 1): four Tiger Sharks (three at Ballina-Lennox and one at Evans Head) and 21 White Sharks (eight at Ballina-Lennox and 13 at Evans Head). Five non-target animals were caught, including a Dusky Whaler, Common Blacktip Shark and three Greynurse Sharks (Table 1). All animals were released alive.
Comments
When the contractors responded to seven alerts that had no catch, they found that three hooks had no bait remaining, two hooks 80% and another two hooks 100% of the bait remaining.
One SMART drumline failed to set off an alert at Joggly Point, Evans Head on the 24 July 2019. When the contractor arrived at the drumline for retrieval at the end of the day, a White Shark was found alive on the line, which was tagged and released immediately (Table 1).
All other sharks triggered an alert to the DPI contractors who responded and were at the SMART drumline within an average of 18 minutes.
Table 1: The date and time of capture of species and their sizes (total length for sharks or disc width for turtles in m), sex, and status during the month of July 2019.
Beach name | Date | Time | Species | Size (TL) and sex | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballina to Lennox Head | |||||
Lennox Head Beach | 11/07/2019 | 09:56 | White Shark | 2.9; Female | Alive |
Sharpes Beach | 29/07/2019 30/07/2019 | 09:42 10:59 | White Shark White Shark | 2.4; Male 1.9; Female | Alive Alive |
Angels Beach | 08/07/2019 09/07/2019 20/07/2019 27/07/2019 | 13:37 15:11 11:24 11:59 | Dusky Whaler Tiger Shark Tiger Shark White Shark | 1.6; Female 3.8; Female 1.8; Female 2.5; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive |
Shelly Beach | 28/07/2019 | 10:04 | White Shark | 2.3; Male | Alive |
Lighthouse Beach | 11/07/2019 23/07/2019 | 11:39 09:29 | White Shark Tiger Shark | 2.0; Female 3.3; Female | Alive Alive |
South Ballina Beach | 02/07/2019 20/07/2019 23/07/2019 | 14:27 14:24 13:16 | Common Blacktip Shark White Shark White Shark | 2.0; Male 2.4; Male 3.2; Unknown | Alive Alive Alive |
Evans Head | |||||
Airforce Beach | 09/07/2019 12/07/2019 28/07/2019 30/07/2019 | 08:40 07:38 13:43 15:07 | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark | 2.4; Male 2.5; Female 2.3; Female 1.7; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive |
Main Beach | 10/07/2019 13/07/2019 13/07/2019 16/07/2019 19/07/2019 26/07/2019 27/07/2019 28/07/2019 30/07/2019 | 07:38 11:59 15:21 08:32 15:31 07:50 14:24 09:30 09:47 | Greynurse Shark White Shark Tiger Shark Greynurse Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark Greynurse Shark White Shark | 2.9; Female 2.3; male 3.6; Female 2.8; Female 1.8: Male 2.8; Female 1.9; Female 2.7; Female 3.3; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive |
Joggly Point | 13/07/2019 13/07/2019 24/07/2019 30/07/2019 | 09:32 12:05 15:10* 14:36 | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark | 2.7; Male 2.4; Female 1.7; Male 2.4; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive |
*No trigger. Time is indicative of when the contractor arrived to pick up the gear at the end of the day