Capture Response and Long-Term Fate of White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>) after Release from SMART Drumlines
Human-shark conflict has been managed through catch-and-kill policies in most parts of the world. More recently, there has been a greater demand for shark bite mitigation measures to improve protection for water users whilst minimizing harm to non-target and target species, particularly White Sharks...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-10-01
|
| Series: | Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/10/1329 |
| _version_ | 1797574688300335104 |
|---|---|
| author | Paul A. Butcher Kate A. Lee Craig P. Brand Christopher R. Gallen Marcel Green Amy F. Smoothey Victor M. Peddemors |
| author_facet | Paul A. Butcher Kate A. Lee Craig P. Brand Christopher R. Gallen Marcel Green Amy F. Smoothey Victor M. Peddemors |
| author_sort | Paul A. Butcher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Human-shark conflict has been managed through catch-and-kill policies in most parts of the world. More recently, there has been a greater demand for shark bite mitigation measures to improve protection for water users whilst minimizing harm to non-target and target species, particularly White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>), given their status as a Threatened, Endangered, or Protected (TEP) species. A new non-lethal shark bite mitigation method, known as the Shark-Management-Alert-in-Real-Time (SMART) drumline, alerts responders when an animal takes the bait and thereby provides an opportunity for rapid response to the catch and potentially to relocate, tag, and release sharks. Thirty-six White Sharks were caught on SMART drumlines in New South Wales, Australia, and tagged with dorsal fin-mounted satellite-linked radio transmitters (SLRTs) and acoustic tags before release. Thirty-one sharks were located within 10 days, 22 of which provided high-quality locations (classes 1 to 3) suitable for analysis. Twenty-seven percent and 59% of these sharks were first detected within 10 and 50 h of release, respectively. For the first three days post-release, sharks moved and mostly remained offshore (>3.5 km from the coast), irrespective of shark sex and length. Thereafter, tagged sharks progressively moved inshore; however, 77% remained more than 1.9 km off the coast and an average of 5 km away from the tagging location, 10 days post-release. Sharks were acoustically detected for an average of 591 days post-release (ranging from 45 to 1075 days). Although five of the 36 sharks were not detected on acoustic receivers, SLRT detections for these five sharks ranged between 43 and 639 days post-release, indicating zero mortality associated with capture. These results highlight the suitability of SMART drumlines as a potential non-lethal shark bite mitigation tool for TEP species such as White Sharks, as they initially move away from the capture site, and thereby this bather protection tool diminishes the immediate risk of shark interactions at that site. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:25:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cbfcd76876004dde97fc618be4f8e314 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:25:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-cbfcd76876004dde97fc618be4f8e3142023-11-19T15:43:46ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372023-10-011210132910.3390/biology12101329Capture Response and Long-Term Fate of White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>) after Release from SMART DrumlinesPaul A. Butcher0Kate A. Lee1Craig P. Brand2Christopher R. Gallen3Marcel Green4Amy F. Smoothey5Victor M. Peddemors6NSW Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries Research, National Marine Science Centre, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, AustraliaSydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW 2088, AustraliaNSW Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries Research, National Marine Science Centre, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, AustraliaNSW Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries Research, National Marine Science Centre, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, AustraliaNSW Department of Primary Industries, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW 2088, AustraliaNSW Department of Primary Industries, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW 2088, AustraliaNSW Department of Primary Industries, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW 2088, AustraliaHuman-shark conflict has been managed through catch-and-kill policies in most parts of the world. More recently, there has been a greater demand for shark bite mitigation measures to improve protection for water users whilst minimizing harm to non-target and target species, particularly White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>), given their status as a Threatened, Endangered, or Protected (TEP) species. A new non-lethal shark bite mitigation method, known as the Shark-Management-Alert-in-Real-Time (SMART) drumline, alerts responders when an animal takes the bait and thereby provides an opportunity for rapid response to the catch and potentially to relocate, tag, and release sharks. Thirty-six White Sharks were caught on SMART drumlines in New South Wales, Australia, and tagged with dorsal fin-mounted satellite-linked radio transmitters (SLRTs) and acoustic tags before release. Thirty-one sharks were located within 10 days, 22 of which provided high-quality locations (classes 1 to 3) suitable for analysis. Twenty-seven percent and 59% of these sharks were first detected within 10 and 50 h of release, respectively. For the first three days post-release, sharks moved and mostly remained offshore (>3.5 km from the coast), irrespective of shark sex and length. Thereafter, tagged sharks progressively moved inshore; however, 77% remained more than 1.9 km off the coast and an average of 5 km away from the tagging location, 10 days post-release. Sharks were acoustically detected for an average of 591 days post-release (ranging from 45 to 1075 days). Although five of the 36 sharks were not detected on acoustic receivers, SLRT detections for these five sharks ranged between 43 and 639 days post-release, indicating zero mortality associated with capture. These results highlight the suitability of SMART drumlines as a potential non-lethal shark bite mitigation tool for TEP species such as White Sharks, as they initially move away from the capture site, and thereby this bather protection tool diminishes the immediate risk of shark interactions at that site.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/10/1329bather protectionpost-release movementshark movementSMART drumline |
| spellingShingle | Paul A. Butcher Kate A. Lee Craig P. Brand Christopher R. Gallen Marcel Green Amy F. Smoothey Victor M. Peddemors Capture Response and Long-Term Fate of White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>) after Release from SMART Drumlines Biology bather protection post-release movement shark movement SMART drumline |
| title | Capture Response and Long-Term Fate of White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>) after Release from SMART Drumlines |
| title_full | Capture Response and Long-Term Fate of White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>) after Release from SMART Drumlines |
| title_fullStr | Capture Response and Long-Term Fate of White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>) after Release from SMART Drumlines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Capture Response and Long-Term Fate of White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>) after Release from SMART Drumlines |
| title_short | Capture Response and Long-Term Fate of White Sharks (<i>Carcharodon carcharias</i>) after Release from SMART Drumlines |
| title_sort | capture response and long term fate of white sharks i carcharodon carcharias i after release from smart drumlines |
| topic | bather protection post-release movement shark movement SMART drumline |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/10/1329 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulabutcher captureresponseandlongtermfateofwhitesharksicarcharodoncarchariasiafterreleasefromsmartdrumlines AT katealee captureresponseandlongtermfateofwhitesharksicarcharodoncarchariasiafterreleasefromsmartdrumlines AT craigpbrand captureresponseandlongtermfateofwhitesharksicarcharodoncarchariasiafterreleasefromsmartdrumlines AT christopherrgallen captureresponseandlongtermfateofwhitesharksicarcharodoncarchariasiafterreleasefromsmartdrumlines AT marcelgreen captureresponseandlongtermfateofwhitesharksicarcharodoncarchariasiafterreleasefromsmartdrumlines AT amyfsmoothey captureresponseandlongtermfateofwhitesharksicarcharodoncarchariasiafterreleasefromsmartdrumlines AT victormpeddemors captureresponseandlongtermfateofwhitesharksicarcharodoncarchariasiafterreleasefromsmartdrumlines |