SMART Drumline Catch Report

October 2020

Operation Summary

During October 2020, 10 SMART drumlines (SDL) were deployed during daylight hours for 20 days across the Gracetown SMART drumline fishing zone. Weather permitting, SMART drumlines are deployed and retrieved each day. However, adverse weather conditions prevented the setting of SDLs for 11 days.

Catch Summary

During October 2020, no target species (white sharks) were caught. Eight non-target sharks were caught, with no other non-target species captured. All sharks were tagged and released and there were no recaptures recorded. Full details are listed in the table below.

Other Comments

During October 2020 SMART buoys were activated 29 times, with an average response time of 14 minutes. The maximum response time of 30 minutes from alert via the SDL to arrival of the vessel at the SDL was exceeded on one occasion. However, this was a false alarm and there was no hooked animal upon checking the SDL.

TABLE 1. SMART DRUMLINE (SDL) TARGET SPECIES CATCH DETAILS FOR OCTOBER 2020.

*No target species caught

TABLE 2. SMART DRUMLINE (SDL) NON-TARGET SPECIES CATCH DETAILS FOR OCTOBER 2020.