Catching and tagging sharks off Port Macquarie is busy work, with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) confirming 35 sharks have been released from SMART drumlines in the past five months.
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SMART (Shark-Management-Alert-In-Real Time) drumlines were installed off Port Macquarie's coastline in February this year to intercept sharks that come close to shore, helping make our beaches safer.
A DPI spokesperson confirmed 22 white sharks have been caught and tagged along with a range of different species including grey nurse sharks, dusky whalers and bull sharks.
"The average size of sharks being caught off Port Macquarie is 2.7 metres," the spokesperson said.
SMART drumlines work to catch target sharks such as white, bull or tiger sharks, allowing DPI to tag and release them along with any non-target animals.
SMART drumlines consist of an anchor, two buoys and a satellite-linked GPS communications unit attached to a hook baited with one sea mullet.
A triggering magnet is attached to the communications unit. When a shark takes the bait and puts pressure on the line, the magnet is released alerting the boat crew and DPI scientists that there is an animal on the line. Once alerted, the team responds within 30 minutes to tag and release the shark or other marine animal.
SMART drumlines are set each morning (weather dependent) and are approximately 500m offshore at a depth between 8-15m of water. They are collected at the end of each day and are not left overnight.
The drumlines in Port Macquarie stretch from Lighthouse Beach to the North Shore.
"This is the first time SMART drumlines have been in at Port Macquarie, but in terms of tracking details the catch rates are similar to what we see at other locations such as Forster," a DPI spokesperson said.
Over 20 sharks have been caught, tagged and released off Port Macquarie over the past two months.
"There have been 21 sharks caught and tagged since the start of May. This is not unusual at this time of the year," a DPI spokesperson said.
"White sharks are moving up the coast as part of their annual migration which occurs primarily between May and November."
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