1 Mar - 31 Mar 2019

Operation

During March 2019, 10 SMART drumlines were deployed for 30 days at Barrenjoey−Newport and 27 days at Manly−Dee Why. Environmental conditions determined how long SMART drumlines were deployed on any given day, ranging from 5:39h to 11:58 at Barrenjoey−Newport and 5:15h to 11:37 at Manly−Dee Why. On average, SMART drumlines were deployed daily for 9:47h Barrenjoey−Newport and 9:56h at Manly−Dee Why.

Catch

During March 2019, no target sharks were caught. Six non-target animals including five Dusky Whalers and one Smooth Hammerhead were caught (Table 1).

One SMART drumline failed to set off an alert at Whale Beach, Sydney on 15 March 2019. When the contractor arrived at the respective drumline for retrieval at the end of the day, a Smooth Hammerhead was found dead on the line (Table 1). The trigger was still intact and failed to dislodge.

All other sharks were released alive.

Comments

When the contractors responded to 9 alerts at Barrenjoey−Newport and 5 alerts at Manly−Dee Why, they found that five hooks had no bait and nine hooks had the bait fully intact.

All animals at Manly−Dee Why triggered an alert to the DPI contractors who responded and were at the SMART drumline within an average of 21 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 March 2019.

*No alert. Time is indicative of when the contractor arrived to pick up the gear early in the afternoon due to strong winds.