Ravenous sharks are costing recreational anglers on the Great Barrier Reef hundreds of dollars every trip as they wreck fishing gear and ambush catches.<\/p>\n
A study from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries has revealed sharks cause an average of $150 damage to fishing gear and force anglers to spend an extra $100 a trip on petrol every time they go out.<\/p>\n
The research did not provide an estimate on the lost value of fish chomped by sharks before they could be brought back to the boats.<\/p>\n
Researchers have cautioned against using the findings to assume an increase in shark numbers, but rather that the apex predators are getting smarter and have learnt to associate the presence of fishing with the opportunity for an easy meal.<\/p>\n
While the study focused specifically on the region of the Great Barrier Reef, the findings will come as no surprise to anglers in the state\u2019s southeast, who have become increasingly frustrated at predation by sharks swiping their catches before they can secure them.<\/p>\n
It comes after The Sunday Mail recently revealed startling statistics showing a massive spike in the number of sharks caught by the state\u2019s contentious shark control program of nets and baited drum lines.<\/p>\n
In the state\u2019s far north, sharks have also started stalking fishing boats to ambush fish snared by anglers.<\/p>\n
Doctor Jonathan Mitchell, a senior biologist at the DPI, led the research and said the findings demonstrated the growing scale of the problem.<\/p>\n
An estimated 37 per cent of Spanish mackerel catch was lost to sharks during the research period, while photos show massive red emperor fish with little more than their heads remaining after being devoured by sharks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know now that depredation is translating directly into higher costs for fishers, from lost gear to increased fuel use,\u201d said Mr Mitchell.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover, depredation can also result in higher fish mortality and injuries to sharks, which at scale can have impacts on maintaining sustainable fish stocks across the Reef.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough our findings we know that there are steps that fishers can take to help mitigate the problem and that is an area where we will continue to focus our research efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Cochrane, the Reef Authority\u2019s Director of Field Management Operations, said the findings reinforce the importance of the Reef Authority\u2019s new Fish for the Future campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re fishing on the Reef, you\u2019re in the shark\u2019s backyard, so it makes sense to adjust what we\u2019re doing to minimise any unwanted interactions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no simple fix, but a few simple, shark-smart habits, and adapting how we fish, can go a long way in helping fishers avoid sharks and hold on to their catch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want everyone to enjoy their time on the water and play their part to protect the reef.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers made a number of suggestions for anglers to avoid losing their catch to sharks, including: <\/p>\n
* Move fishing spots regularly \u2013 move on once you have caught a few fish and don\u2019t go back to the same fishing spot too often. If you start losing fish to sharks, move to another spot a good distance away.<\/p>\n
* Fish in shallower depths and with lines close to the boat when trolling \u2013 fish can be retrieved quickly and sharks have less time to take them.<\/p>\n
* Use handlines and\/or electric reels \u2013 this may help you to get fish in the boat faster.<\/p>\n
* Avoid using bait and berley (this attracts sharks), switch to using lures and jigs.<\/p>\n
* Avoid cleaning your fish and dumping the waste where you are fishing (this attracts sharks), always discard fish waste far away from fishing and swimming areas.<\/p>\n
* Switch the fish you target \u2013 if you find sharks are taking a particular species, try switching your target species.<\/p>\n
* Turn your engine and echo sounder off when you arrive at your fishing spot \u2013 this reduces noise and the chance of attracting sharks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ravenous sharks are costing recreational anglers on the Great Barrier Reef hundreds of dollars every trip as they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[281421,23880,64,63,281420,281411,281424,66896,281400,281415,281405,57475,281414,281406,281419,281404,281410,281418,281413,52748,281409,8690,281403,281402,128,281422,281417,281416,281408,281407,281423,281412,281401,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-573365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ambush-catches","9":"tag-apex-predators","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-baited-drum-lines","13":"tag-brisbane-news","14":"tag-chris-cochrane","15":"tag-courier-mail","16":"tag-courier-mail-news","17":"tag-echo-sounder","18":"tag-electric-reels","19":"tag-fishing-gear","20":"tag-fishing-spots","21":"tag-fishing-trips","22":"tag-force-anglers","23":"tag-great-barrier-reef-marine-park-authority","24":"tag-jonathan-mitchell","25":"tag-mackerel-catch","26":"tag-massive-red-emperor","27":"tag-primary-industries","28":"tag-queensland-department","29":"tag-queensland-news","30":"tag-research-efforts","31":"tag-research-period","32":"tag-science","33":"tag-senior-biologist","34":"tag-shark-numbers","35":"tag-shark-study","36":"tag-shark-smart-habits","37":"tag-stalking-fishing-boats","38":"tag-started-stalking-fishing","39":"tag-sustainable-fish-stocks","40":"tag-target-species","41":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}