8 Dec 2016 - 7 Jan 2017

During the first month (8 December 2016 – 7 January 2017) of the NSW North Coast Shark Meshing Trial, SMART drumlines were also deployed on 27 and 29 days at Evans Head and Ballina-Lennox Head, respectively (Table 1). The mean number of hours that SMART drumlines were deployed at each location was similar but varied daily depending on ocean conditions (Table 1).

Twenty two (22) alerts were recorded from the SMART drumlines. These included nine (9) alerts with no catch, and 13 sharks comprised of nine (9) White Sharks, two (2) Tiger Sharks and two (2) Greynurse Sharks. All 13 sharks were deemed to be in good health and were released alive (Tables 2 and 3). After capture, sharks were relocated if conditions allowed. Data indicates that sharks depart the area following capture.

Table 1: The mean number of SMART drumlines deployed each day, number of days that the SMART drumlines were deployed, the mean and range of hours SMART drumlines were deployed each day and the number of alerts between 8 December 2016 and 7 January 2017.

Table 2: The location and number of sharks caught and released on SMART drumlines for the reporting period.

Table 3: Cumulative total of species caught and released on SMART drumlines during each reporting month of the NSW North Coast Shark Meshing Trial.