Dan Radel

@DanielRadelAPP

A New Jersey native is working on a shark repellant that will reduce the by-catch of sharks and rays in the pelagic longline fisheries.

It's called SuperPolyShark and its scent is strong enough to make a shark turn its head.

"We got it as high as a 71 percent reduction in a 4-hour period and up to a 35 percent reduction in sharks in 16-hour period," said Eric Shroud, a managing partner and senior chemist at Shark Defense, an Old Bridge based company.

Stroud, 40, founded Shark Defense Technologies with his wife Jean in 2001, and now has partners helping in develop the product in Key West, Florida.

The company is a leading researcher of chemical, electrochemical and magnetic shark repellents. Its primary mission is to research and develop shark bycatch reduction devices.

As first, he said people thought he was peddling some kind of "snake oil" witchcraft. But if it proves to catch more fish and less sharks, the word is going to get out pretty quickly to longline fleets all over the world he believes.

"The game you have to play is you have to scare away the sharks but keep attracting the tuna and the swordfish," said Stroud.

In 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Shark Defense Technologies and Key West Community College with a $234,311 grant to develop the product in the field.

The grant was part of NOAA's Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program, which seeks solutions to bycatch issues in the nation's fisheries. The agency released the results of Stroud's study Oct. 9.

He tested the product in the Straits of Florida on the commercial longline boat, Outlaw, captained by Pete Bradley out of Key West. They placed the SuperPoly- Shark — which is a polymer —in the bodies of squid.

In 400 hook sets, the squids that had the polymer caught 35 percent less sharks over a 16-hour period than the squids that did not. The polymer is a time-release however, and so far it's proved to be most effective in a shorter period of time before it wears off.

Stroud would like to develop it to the point where it can be highly effective for all 16 hours, which is about how long a longline boat soaks its bait.

"You'll never see a repellant be 100 percent effective, sharks are too unpredictable," said Stroud. "But if we can hit 70 percent for 16 hours we're golden."

The other goal is to make it inexpensive for fishermen who are on razor-sharp budgets. Stroud said he'd like to get SuperPolyShark down to less than five cents a bait.

He believes fishermen will more than make up the cost by reducing gear cost associated with lost hooks from shark bite-offs, cut-offs and shark-related damage. Plus, they'll get a few more salable fish on their lines instead of a tiger shark.

He hasn't tested the polymer on spiny dogfish, but if he could succeed there, he'd probably be treated as a god in these parts.

Dan Radel: 732-643-4072; dradel@app.com