Operation
During November 2017, SMART drumlines were deployed for 22 days at Ballina-Lennox Head, Evans Head, Coffs Harbour and Kiama, 25 days at Ulladulla, and 26 days at Forster. Environmental conditions determined how long SMART drumlines were deployed on any given day, ranging from 4:35h to 12:46h. On average, SMART drumlines were deployed daily for 8:44h at Ballina-Lennox Head, 9:11h at Coffs Harbour, 9:29h at Evans Head, 9:47h at Ulladulla, 9:54h at Kiama and 10:00h at Forster.
Total catches
A total of 34 target sharks from five of the six locations were caught: one female Bull Shark from Ballina; five Tiger Sharks (one male and four females) from Coffs Harbour and 28 White Sharks (10 males and 18 females). More White Sharks were caught at Forster (16 sharks) than at Evans Head (5), Coffs Harbour (4), Ulladulla (2) or Ballina-Lennox Head (1) (Tables 1 and 2). No White Sharks were caught at Kiama.
A total of 16 non-target animals were caught, including one Loggerhead Turtle that was tangled in the trace (but not hooked) and 15 sharks from seven species (Bronze Whaler, Dusky Whaler, Grey Nurse Shark, Shortfin Mako Shark, Silky Shark, Smooth Hammerhead and Spinner Shark - Table 3). All animals were released alive and in good condition.
Comments
When the contractor responded to twenty-four alerts that had no catch, they found that eleven hooks had no bait, eight hooks the bait was fully intact, while two hooks had 50%, two hooks had 20-25% and one hook had 80% of the bait remaining.
One SMART drumline failed to set off any alert and a member of the public alerted the contractor to seeing an animal on the line at Tuncurry Beach, Tuncurry on 3 November 2017. When the contractor arrived at the drumline, no animal was present but the bait was gone.
All other caught animals 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 in m), sex and status during the month of November 2017.
Beach name | Date | Time | Species | Size (TL) and sex | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballina to Lennox Head | ||||||
Lennox Head Beach | 5/11/2017 | 10:25 | Spinner Shark | 1.5; Female | Alive | |
Lennox Point | 13/11/2017 | 09:50 | Loggerhead Turtle | ~1.0; unknown | Alive* | |
Sharpes Beach | 29/11/2017 | 14:16 | Smooth Hammerhead | 1.8; Female | Alive | |
Shelly Beach | 03/11/2017 18/11/2017 | 08:07 08:49 | White Shark Smooth Hammerhead | 2.4; Female 1.7; Male | Alive Alive | |
Lighthouse Beach | 01/11/2017 | 13:22 | Dusky Whaler | 2.0; Male | Alive | |
South Ballina Beach | 23/11/2017 | 13:21 | Bull Shark | 2.9; Female | Alive | |
Evans Head | ||||||
Main Beach | 01/11/2017 06/11/2017 10/11/2017 23/11/2017 30/11/2017 30/11/2017 | 15:50 14:42 08:59 10:04 09:45 10:49 | White Shark Shortfin Mako Shark Grey Nurse Shark White Shark White Shark Grey Nurse Shark | 2.6; Female 3.0; Female 3.0; Female 2.6; Female 2.5; Male 2.7: Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive | |
Shark Bay to Joggly Point | 10/11/2017 25/11/2017 | 14:08 16:22 | White Shark White Shark | 3.0; Female 2.7; Male | Alive Alive | |
Coffs Harbour/Sawtell | ||||||
Diggers Beach | 05/11/2017 14/11/2017 15/11/2017 27/11/2017 | 14:12 16:54 10:16 09:18 | White Shark Dusky Whaler Tiger Shark Dusky Shark | 2.2; Female 2.5; Female 2.0; Female 1.3; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive | |
Park Beach | 12/11/2017 23/11/2017 29/11/2017 | 7:31 11:00 13:40 | Grey Nurse Shark Dusky Whaler Tiger Shark | 2.9; Female 1.4; Male 2.1; Female | Alive Alive Alive | |
Boambee Beach/Headland | 16/11/2017 30/11/2017 | 11:04 13:17 | Tiger Shark White Shark | 1.7; Female 3.3; Female | Alive Alive | |
Sawtell Headland | 01/11/2017 05/11/2017 14/11/2017 19/11/2017 | 14:23 16:30 10:44 13:30 | White Shark Tiger Shark Tiger Shark White Shark | 2.3; Female 1.7; Male 1.8; Female 2.0; Male | Alive Alive Alive Alive | |
Forster/Tuncurry | ||||||
Tuncurry Beach | 08/11/2017 08/11/2017 09/11/2017 14/11/2017 20/11/2017 22/11/2017 28/11/2017 | 11:41 15:22 10:06 15:01 12:30 16:41 15:01 | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark | 3.1; Female 2.9; Male 3.0; Male 2.3; Male 3.9; Female 3.2; Female 2.4; Male | Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive | |
Main Beach | 21/11/2017 | 09:01 | White Shark | 2.4; Female | Alive | |
Pebbly Beach | 11/11/2017 | 13:38 | White Shark | 2.8; Female | Alive | |
Bennetts Head | 07/11/2017 | 16:20 | Silky Shark | 2.8; Male | Alive | |
One Mile Beach | 07/11/2017 10/11/2017 21/11/2017 21/11/2017 22/11/2017 25/11/2017 28/11/2017 | 14:30 12:15 08:55 13:44 10:37 16:12 13:05 | White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark White Shark Smooth Hammerhead | 2.9; Male 2.4; Male 2.4; Female 2.9; Female 2.9; Female 2.4; Female 1.5; Female | Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive Alive | |
Burgess Beach | 02/11/2017 | 15:09 | White Shark | 3.2; Female | Alive | |
Kiama | ||||||
Jones Beach | 08/11/2017 | 07:40 | Smooth Hammerhead | 1.4; Male | Alive | |
Ulladulla | ||||||
Narrawalle Beach | 08/11/2017 11/11/2017 21/11/2017 | 13:53 07:09 15:07 | White Shark White Shark Bronze Whaler | 2.6; Female 2.5; Male 2.0; Female | Alive Alive Alive | |
* Loggerhead Turtle at Lennox Point, Lennox Head on 13 November 2017 was tangled in the trace and not hooked. It freed itself when the contractors started pulling the SMART drumline toward the boat.
Table 2: Cumulative total of target shark species caught on SMART drumlines since December 2016 at Ballina-Lennox Head (BL), Evans Head (EH), Coffs Harbour (CH), Forster (F), Kiama (K) and Ulladulla (U).
| White Shark | Tiger Shark | Bull Shark | TOTAL | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | ||
8 Dec – 7 Jan 2017 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 11 |
8 Jan – 7 Feb 2017 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 5 |
8 Feb – 7 Mar 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 |
8 Mar – 7 Apr 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
8 Apr – 7 May 2017 | 7a | 3b | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 12 |
8 May – 31 May 2017 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 7 |
1 June – 30 June 2017 | 5 | 11 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 17 |
1 July – 31 July 2017 | 11 | 16 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 27 |
1 Aug – 31 Aug 2017 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 16 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 30 |
1 Sep – 30 Sep 2017 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 15 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 39 |
1 Oct – 31 Oct 2017 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 15 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 39 |
1 Nov – 30 Nov 2017 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
SUB TOTAL | 57 | 71 | 14 | 62 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
TOTAL | 206 | 12 | 4 | 222 | |||||||||||||||
a 1 individual died
b 1 individual was found dead on Airforce Beach, Evans Head on 12 May 2017 after being tagged and released on 7 May 2017.
Table 3: Cumulative total of non-target species caught on SMART drumlines since December 2016 at Ballina-Lennox Head (BL), Evans Head (EH), Coffs Harbour (CH) and Forster (F). Note “–“ in the table indicates no trial in that region during that month.
| Spinner Shark | Grey Nurse Shark | Whaler Shark | Whaler Shark - unidentified | Loggerhead Turtle | Black Ray | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | |
8 Dec 2016 – 7 Jan 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
8 Jan – 7 Feb 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
8 Feb – 7 Mar 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
8 Mar – 7 Apr 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
8 Apr – 7 May 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
8 May – 31 May 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
1 June – 30 June 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
1 July – 31 July 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
1 Aug – 31 Aug 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
1 Sep – 30 Sep 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
1 Oct – 31 Oct 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - |
1 Nov – 30 Nov 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SUB TOTAL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TOTAL | 1 | 20 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
a 1 individual was found dead on the line after an alert
Table 3 (continued): Sixty five non-target species caught on SMART drumlines since December 2016 at Ballina-Lennox Head (BL), Evans Head (EH), Coffs Harbour (CH), Forster (F), Kiama (K) and Ulladulla (U).
| Thresher Shark | Shortfin Mako Shark | Bronze Whaler | Common Blacktip Shark | Silky Shark | Smooth Hammerhead | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | BL | EH | CH | F | K | U | |
8 Dec 2016 – 7 Jan 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | |
8 Jan – 7 Feb 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | |
8 Feb – 7 Mar 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | |
8 Mar – 7 Apr 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | |
8 Apr – 7 May 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | ||
8 May – 31 May 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | |
1 June – 30 June 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | |
1 July – 31 July 2017 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | |
1 Aug – 31 Aug 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
1 Sep – 30 Sep 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | 0 | 1a | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
1 Oct – 31 Oct 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
1 Nov – 30 Nov 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
SUB TOTAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
TOTAL | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
a 1 individual was found dead on the line after an alert