Operation
During March 2019, 20 SMART drumlines were deployed for 23 days at Ballina-Lennox Head and 15 SMART drumlines for 22 days at Evans Head. Environmental conditions determined how long SMART drumlines were deployed on any given day, ranging from 5:31h to 11:43h. On average, SMART drumlines were deployed daily for 9:41h at Ballina-Lennox Head and 9:15h at Evans Head.
Catches
During March 2019, six target sharks were caught (Table 1); one female Bull Shark and five male Tiger Sharks were caught. No non-target sharks were caught (Table 1). All animals were released alive.
Comments
When the contractor responded to four alerts that had no catch, they found that one hook had no bait, two had 25% and one hook had the bait fully intact.
All caught animals triggered an alert to the DPI contractors who responded and were at the SMART drumline within an average of 24 minutes.
Table 1: The date and time of capture of species and their sizes (total length in m), sex, and status during March 2019.
Beach name | Date | Time | Species | Size (TL) and sex | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballina to Lennox Head | |||||
Lennox Head Beach | 20/03/2019 | 15:59 | Tiger Shark | 2.4: Male | Alive |
Lennox Headland | 10/03/2019 | 09:10 | Bull Shark | 2.1: Female | Alive |
Boulders Beach | 16/03/2019 | 12:45 | Tiger Shark | 2.5: Male | Alive |
South Ballina Beach | 22/03/2019 24/03/2019 | 13:45 15:29 | Tiger Shark Tiger Shark | 2.6: Male 2.3: Male | Alive Alive |
Evans Head | |||||
Airforce Beach | 15/03/2019 | 12:36 | Tiger Shark | 2.7: Male | Alive |