Western Australia’s SMART Drumline Trial has been extended by 12 months to allow the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) to collect more data on the sharks being caught, tagged and monitored.
Minister for Fisheries, Peter Tinley said the extension came at the recommendation of the Chief Scientist, Peter Klinken and would now continue until May 2021.
“Extra funding of $2.832 million made available to extend drumline operations adds to the estimated $3.543 million cost of the first 15 months of the trial,” Mr Tinley said.
“The trial, off the coast near Gracetown, aims to assess the effectiveness of drumline technology in reducing the risk of shark attacks,” he said.
“It includes 240 data-recording VR2 receivers on the sea bed that track the movement of sharks tagged in the trial.”
He said that during the first 12 months, the SMART drumlines caught two target species — white sharks — and 46 non-target sharks, including tiger sharks and bronze whalers.
“As of 20 April, a further 27 non-target species sharks were also caught,” the Minister said.
He said Professor Klinken, in consultation with the Ministerial Reference Group, would continue to review data from the first 15 months of the trial to see if the trial’s methodology could be improved.
“The SMART Drumline Trial is a non-lethal approach to assessing the risk of shark encounters off the south-west coast,” Mr Tinley said.
“A network of shark warning systems is operating in the trial zone to help alert local beachgoers to trial activities,” he said.
“Increasing the number of tagged sharks will improve our scientific understanding of their movements and help assess potential risks posed by white sharks,” the Minister said.
