austag research report 2004/05 - infofish...

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Austag Research Report 2004/05


Editor

Bill Sawynok

Austag Coordinator

Infofish Services PO Box 9793 Frenchville Qld 4701

Published December 2005

Cover photograph: Small tagged barramundi being released as part of a project examining use of wetlands by juvenile barramundi.

Information in this publication is provided as general advice only. For application to specific circumstances, professional advice should be sought.

ANSA Ltd and Infofish Services have taken all steps to ensure the information contained in this publication is accurate at the time of publication. Readers should ensure that they make the appropriate enquiries to determine whether new information is available on a particular subject matter.

Report No: ANSA200502 © Australian National Sportfishing Association Ltd and Infofish Services All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission from ANSA Ltd.

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Table of Contents

Acronyms Used in the Report...............................................................................................................6 1. Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................................................7 2. Contacting Austag Progams ....................................................................................................10 3. Summary 2004/05 .........................................................................................................................12 4. Introduction .........................................................................................................................................13 5. How Austag Works .........................................................................................................................14 5.1 Austag Structure .......................................................................... 14 5.2 Austag on the web........................................................................ 14 5.3 Tagging Equipment ....................................................................... 15 5.4 Tag and Recapture Certificates ....................................................... 16 6. Scope of ANSA Research ............................................................................................................17 6.1 Tagging....................................................................................... 17 6.2 Catch and Effort ........................................................................... 17 6.3 Released Fish Survival................................................................... 17 6.4 Research Support ......................................................................... 18 6.5 Community Based Monitoring ......................................................... 18 6.6 Historical Tagging Data.................................................................. 18 7. Tagging ....................................................................................................................................................19 7.1 Suntag........................................................................................ 19 7.2 Newtag ....................................................................................... 25 7.3 Victag ......................................................................................... 25 7.4 Tastag ........................................................................................ 30 7.5 Saftag......................................................................................... 30 7.6 Westag ....................................................................................... 33 7.7 Toptag ........................................................................................ 38 7.8 AFANT Tag................................................................................... 40 8. Catch and Effort.................................................................................................................................41 8.1 Catch and Release in NSW ............................................................. 41 8.2 Catch and Effort in Queensland....................................................... 42 9. Released Fish Survival .................................................................................................................44 10. Research Support.............................................................................................................................47 10.1 Suntag Research Support .............................................................. 47 10.2 Westag Reef Fish Research Support................................................. 48 10.3 Samson Science ........................................................................... 53 10.4 Support for Flathead Survival Research............................................ 56 11. Historical Tagging Data...............................................................................................................60 12. Where to in 2005/06?..................................................................................................................61


List of Tables Table 1: Suntag Tagging Excellence Awards 2004/05 24 Table 2: Results of Victag tagging over the past five years 26 Table 3: Victag fish tagged and recaptured in 2004/05 and overall 26 Table 4: Top 10 Taggers in Victag 27 Table 5: Top clubs tagging in Victag 28 Table 6: Number of tagged fish entered into the ANSA-WA database up to June 2005 by method of

release. * 85 Pink Snapper were tagged by Department of Fisheries in Shark Bay 48 Table 7: Number of recaptured fish recorded up to June 2005 by method of release. Total recaptures

includes fish recaptured when release method was unknown 49 Table 8: Preliminary results of percentage recapture rates of the four demersal species that have

been tagged over the last 4.5 years 50

List of Figures Figure 1: Relationship between Austag and the State tagging programs 14 Figure 2: Infofish homepage where the Austag Manual and all aspects of tagging can be accessed 15 Figure 3: Tag wallet, tag applicators, Arrow tag gun, fold up measuring ruler and spare needles 15 Figure 4: Austag certificate used to provide feedback on recaptured fish 16 Figure 5: Summary of participation in Suntag since 1986/87 19 Figure 6: Suntag fish tagged and recaptured since 1986/87 20 Figure 7: Total numbers of key species tagged and their recapture rate 21 Figure 8: Recapture rate for all fish from 1985/86 to 2004/05 21 Figure 9: Percentage of recaptured tagged fish released by recreational fishers 22 Figure 10: Suntag reports produced in 2004/05 23 Figure 11: Suntag News bulletin used to provide feedback on interesting recaptures 24 Figure 12: Peter Spehr and 64cm Dusky Flathead from Lake Tyers (left – Brett Geddes photo) and a

dart Tagged Hopkins River Bream about to be released (right – Scott Gray Warnambool Fishcare photo) 27

Figure 13: A 64cm Glenelg River Mulloway on release (photo Scott Gray – Warrnambool Fishcare) 30 Figure 14: Snapper tagged at Fowlers Bay in SA and recaptured at Esperance in WA 31 Figure 15: Numbers of SAFTAG fish tagged and percentage recaptured 32 Figure 16: Key SAFTAG species tagged and recapture rates 33 Figure 17: Andrew Rowland about to release a Pink Snapper 34 Figure 18: Wally Parkin with a tagged Samson Fish ready for release 35 Figure 19: Westag fish tagged and recaptured since 1996/97 35 Figure 20: Westag species tagged, recaptured and recapture rates 36 Figure 21: Movement of King Threadfin Salmon tagged in Nickol Bay 37 Figure 22: Toptag fish tagged and recaptured 39 Figure 23: Barramundi statistics from Billy Taylor Barra Watch 40 Figure 24: Cricket legend Dennis Lillee with a Spanish Mackerel caught during the latest Genetag

Competition” Photo Courtesy of Michael Phelan 41 Figure 25: Percentage of total catch kept by ANSA NSW members 42 Figure 26: Percentage of fish kept by Suntag taggers 42 Figure 27: time taken to catch a fish 43 Figure 28: Comparison of fish caught on bait and lures for Suntag fishing trips 43 Figure 29: Survival rates for key Australian recreational fish species 44 Figure 30: Information products now available on releasing fish 45 Figure 31: Gently Does It! T-shirts are available to fishers contributing data that is used in assessing

fish survival 46 Figure 32: Recording of hook locations and where hooks are lodged in fish using bait and lure 47 Figure 33: Summary of hooking location recorded by Suntag 47 Figure 34: A small West Australian Dhufish being returned to the bottom with a release weight

(shotline) (Garry Lilley photograph) 49 Figure 35: A tagged undersize Dhufish with released weight attached ready for release 50 Figure 36: Recapture rates of the three methods, simple, vented and shotline for three species

Dhufish, Pink Snapper and Breaksea Cod 51 Figure 37: Number of Dhufish tagged and recaptured since 1996 by depth. The % of Dhufish

recaptured by depth for all types of fisher was calculated when more than 50 Dhufish have been tagged 52

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Figure 38: Number of snapper tagged and recaptured since 1996 by depth. The % of snapper recaptured by depth for all types of fisher was calculated when more than 50 snapper have been tagged 52

Figure 39: Samson Fish tagging sites west of Rottnest Island 53 Figure 40: Total number caught each day during the tagging (blue) and recapture phase (red) of the

study with max windspeed 54 Figure 41: Recaptures of Samson Fish tagged west of Rottnest Island in Jan/Feb 2005 includes days

at liberty for most fish 55 Figure 42: Recreational fishing boats taking part in Samson Fish tagging during a fine day in January

2005 56 Figure 43: Deep hooking rates reported by Tasmanian volunteer anglers by hook type. Numbers are

sample sizes 57 Figure 44: Deep hooking rates for dusky flathead by method based on SUNTAG data and NSW

volunteer anglers. Numbers are sample sizes. 58 Figure 45: Deep hooking rates by 5-cm size class for Tasmania (sand flathead). NSW (Dusky

Flathead) and SUNTAG data (Dusky Flathead), all hook types (including lures) combined. 58 Figure 46: A) Catch rate per hour of sand flathead by hook type (± SE); and B) deep hooking rates

by hook type. Numbers are sample sizes. 59 Figure 47: Survival rates over 4 days post-capture and based on hooking location for sand flathead -

numbers represent sample size for each treatment 59 Figure 48: Survival rates over 4 days for deep hooked flathead based whether or not hooking injury

involved obvious bleeding - numbers represent sample size for each treatment 60


Acronyms Used in the Report

AFANT Tag: AFANT Research Program in Northern Territory

AFANT: Amateur Fisherman’s Association of the Northern Territory

AFTA: Australian Fishing Tackle Association

ANSA (State): Australian National Sportfishing Association State Branch

ANSA: Australian National Sportfishing Association

Austag: ANSA Research Program

CRC: Cooperative Research Centre

FRAC: Fisheries Resource Allocation Committee

FRDC: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

GBRMP: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

GBRMPA: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

GFTP: Game Fish Tagging Program

MAFRI: Marine and Freshwater Research Institute

Newtag: ANSA NSW Research Program

PIRVic: Primary Industries Research Victoria

PRS: Post Release Survival

QDPI&F: Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries

QDPI: Queensland Department of Primary Industries

Recfish: Recfish Australia

RFCGP: Recreational Fishing Community Grants Program

RFL: Recreational Fishing License

Saftag: ANSA SA Research Program

SARDI: South Australian Research and Development Institute

Suntag: ANSA Qld Research Program

TAA: Tagging Achievement Award

Tastag: ANSA Tas Research Progam

TEA: Tagging Excellence Award

Toptag: ANSA NT Research Program

UWA: University of Western Australia

Victag: ANSA Vic Research Program

Westag: ANSA WA Research Program

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1. Acknowledgements

The running of a national data collection program to collect basic data on our fish species is a major undertaking. The task is considerably greater and more difficult when that program is being undertaken by a recreational fishing organisation such as ANSA with most of the work being carried out voluntarily. Without the efforts of a host of people that have contributed to the program and support from government and the corporate sector this would not have happened. It is important to acknowledge the efforts and support of those that have made this possible. The support and cooperation of the following State Government Fisheries agencies and research institutions to our Austag programs is acknowledged.

Fisheries Research and Development Corporation Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries

Cooperative Research Centre for Coastal Zone Estuaries and Waterway Management CRC Reef Research Centre

Department of Primary Industries Water and Environment in Tasmania Department of Primary Industries in Victoria Department of Fisheries in Western Australia

New South Wales Fisheries Primary Industries and Resources South Australia

Northern Territory Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development


Corporate sector and recreational fishing industry bodies support is also acknowledged. Australian Fishing Tackle Association Recfish Australia Hallprint Pty Ltd Henderson Australia Zephyr Business Services Infofish Services Amateur Fisherman’s Assoc of Northern Territory

SUNTAG - QUEENSLAND Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Sunfish Queensland Lively Lures Platypus Fishing Lines Infofish Services Gladstone Sportfishing Club Henderson Handcrafts

Support for Suntag was also received from the following: Cairns Area Fish Stocking Group Burdekin Fish Restocking Association Tablelands Fish Stocking Society Holloways Beach Environment Education Centre Mackenzie River Fish Stocking Group Fitzroy River Fish Stocking Group Moura Fish Stocking Group Callide Fish Stocking Group Rainbow Beach Fishing Charters Geoff Orr - Courier Mail Steve Morgan - Queensland Fishing Monthly Boyne Tannum Hookup Rocky Barra Bounty Bill Stringer

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NEWTAG – NEW SOUTH WALES NSW Fisheries Recreational Fishing Trusts Sea Sea Marine and Electronics Furuno

VICTAG -VICTORIA Primary Industries Research Victoria

SAFTAG – SOUTH AUSTRALIA

South Australian Research and Development Institute Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia

WESTAG – WESTERN AUSTRALIA Fisheries Research and Development Corporation WA Department of Fisheries Western Angler Magazine Access 31 Recfishwest Mogi Yoichi – Groper Boys Cleggies Tackle Shop Chris and Karen Scoble


2. Contacting Austag Progams

Austag is on the Infofish website at www.info-fish.net. Austag and Suntag Coordinator Bill Sawynok PO Box 9793 FRENCHVILLE Qld 4701 Ph: 07-4928-6133 Mob: 04-1707-5277 Fax: 07-4926-3335 Email: [email protected] Website: www.info-fish.net Suntag toll free hotline: 1800-077-001 Newtag Coordinator Stan Konstantaras 13 Keyser Road PAGEWOOD NSW 2035 Ph: 02-9344-0331 Fax: 02-9344-4695 Email: [email protected]: www.ansansw.com.au Newtag toll free hotline: 1800-079-009 Victag Coordinator Adrian Arkinstall (retired) Lot 14 Kingston Street MOOLAP Vic 3221 Ph: 03-5248-1979 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ansa.com.au/sportfishing.htm Victag toll free hotline: 1800-677-620 Tastag Coordinator Peter Brown 4 Deeprose Way SANDFORD Tas 7020 Ph: 04-0327-4572 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ansatas.com Tastag toll free hotline: 1800-652-841

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http://www.info-fish.net/

mailto:[email protected]



http://www.ansansw.com.au/


http://www.ansa.com.au/sportfishing.htm


http://www.ansatas.com/


Saftag Contact Marcel Vandergoot 268 Hayman Road LEWISTON SA 5501 Ph: 08-8524-2043 Mob: 04-1981-6482 Fax: 08-8262-7701 Email: [email protected] Website: www.wicked.com.au/ansa-sa/ Saftag toll free hotline: 1800-625-901 Toptag Coordinator David Woodburn PO Box 4604 DARWIN NT 0801 Ph: 08-8983-2326 Fax: 08-8983-3663 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ansa.com.au/nt/index Toptag toll free hotline: 1800-653-365 AFANT tagging Coordinator Chris Makepeace PO Box 40694 CASUARINA NT 0811 Ph: 08-8945-6455 Fax: 08-8945-6055 Email: [email protected]: www.afant.com.auAFANT toll free hotline: Westag Coordinators Andrew Rowland Recfishwest PO Box 34 NORTH BEACH WA 6920 Ph: 08-9246-3366 Fax: 08-9246-5595 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.recfishwest.org.au John Stevens 37 Rawlinna Heights BALLAJURA WA 6066 Email: [email protected]: www.ansawa.iinet.auWestag tool free hotline: 1800-682-002


http://www.wicked.com.au/ansa-sa/


http://www.ansa.com.au/nt/index


http://www.afant.com.au/


http://www.recfishwest.org.au/


http://www.ansawa.iinet.au/


3. Summary 2004/05

In 2004/05 Austag programs again contributed significantly to our knowledge on recreational fisheries. Programs under Austag now collect data through:

Fish tagging Catch and effort Hooking locations for released fish survival Support for research projects Community based monitoring Historical tagging records

A significant milestone was reached on the tagging front with the passing of half a million fish tagged under Austag. The total fish tagged at the end of 2004/05 was over 517,000 with the Suntag program on Queensland also passing the 400,000 mark. Barramundi in Suntag became the first species where over 100,000 fish have been tagged. Total recaptures are now 37,500 with an overall recapture rate of 7.3%.

Austag reached a significant milestone in 2004/05 with over 500,000 fish tagged

The recapture rate of tagged fish in Suntag in Queensland is used as a surrogate to monitor fishing effort, and in turn participation in recreational fishing. Over the past seven years from 1998/99 the recapture rate per year has steadily fallen from around 9.5% to 4.8%. This indicates that recreational fishing effort in Queensland is falling. Data on this is not monitored in the other States. In Queensland the catch rate is for those involved in tagging under Suntag only. The average Suntag trip is 5.6 hours in duration with 1.7 fishers taking part in each trip. On each trip there is an average of 9.4 fish caught of which one (1.1) fish is kept. In 2004/05 it required 1.07 hours of fishing effort to catch a fish compared to 0.95 hours in 1999/00. The trend is a slow increase in the time taken to catch a fish and a 12% increase in the past six years from 1999/00 to 2004/05. The catch rate for ANSA NSW members is not available for 2004/05. Some improvement was recorded in 2003/04 in the catch rate with it requiring 0.63 hours of effort to catch a fish and 2.6 hours to catch a keeper. This is a significant improvement on the effort required in the previous year where it took 0.78 hours to catch a fish and 3.9 hours to catch a keeper. Data on hooking locations continues to be collected, particularly in support of Flathead survival research. Hooking locations for Flathead are being collected by Suntag, Newtag and Victag. Deep hooking of fish (hooks lodged in the throat or gut) is known to be a major cause of mortality of fish that are released so knowledge of the rate of deep hooking will assist in assessing overall survival. Hooking locations on a broader range of species is being collected by Suntag in Queensland where over 23,000 records have now been obtained, but is now also happening in WA, Victoria and NSW. In Suntag a total of 8.3% of fish caught on bait are hooked in the throat or gut while 0.9% of fish caught on lures were hooked in the throat and 0% were gut hooked. The range of research projects being supported by Austag programs continues to grow and demonstrates that involvement of fishers in research is not only beneficial in data collection but also in the extension of research results and the ultimate uptake of that by recreational fishers.

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4. Introduction

This year is the second year that the annual report has been titled the “Austag Research Report”. Previously it was known as the “Austag Sportfish Tagging Report”. The name change was in recognition that the collection of information from our ANSA members has extended beyond tagging to data on catch and effort and fish survival. Much of this expanded data collection is in support of research projects. Austag commenced in 1994/95 when the then successful Queensland tagging program, which commenced in 1986/87, was extended to Victoria and onto the other States over the following few years. In the early years the program was focused entirely on tagging of fish. In 1996/97 ANSA NSW commenced a project to obtain catch and effort data from its members and was followed by Queensland in the same year. This was the first move to collect data beyond tagging and there has been a steady expansion of the scope of data collection since then. In 2000/01 Westag become involved in a WA Fisheries research project to examine the survival of undersized reef fish. This involved obtaining tag data on a number of species of reef fish and relating subsequent recapture data to survival of fish taken from different depths. This project also led to the development of a release weight, by ANSA member Garry Lilley, to assist returning fish to the bottom. This release weight is currently being assessed on a range of species and compared with other methods of fish release. It is steadily being taken up in WA. That project was the forerunner to the National Strategy for the Survival or Line Caught Fish that was established by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) in 2001/02. This strategy involves a series of projects on fish survival and also promoting best practices in releasing fish. The ANSA code of practice on releasing fish was used as the basis for best practices in releasing fish. Data collection associated with the National Strategy now involves recording details of where hooks are lodged in fish for use in estimating fish survival rates. Suntag in Queensland is also working with researchers on a reef fish survival project and Suntag, Newtag and Victag are involved in a Flathead survival project. The Suntag program also collects data on tagged Mud Crabs both for Fisheries research projects and community based monitoring. It is also working actively with community-based fish stocking groups to collect data on fish stocked in impoundments. It also collects and stores data from Fisheries research tagging projects and is capturing old tagging datasets before they get lost over time. Suntag is also collaborating with Capricorn Sunfish in collecting data on the use of wetlands by juvenile Barramundi and also on a project tagging fish in saltponds being used for the commercial production of salt. In 2004/05 the CapReef program was being set up to monitor changes in fish stocks and fisher behavior following the rezoning of the GBRMP. Suntag is collecting the data for CapReef. Our Westag program in Western Australia is taking part in a research project on Samson Fish. Our Newtag program in NSW is working on a Mahi Mahi tagging project with NSW Fisheries and collecting hooking data for Flathead research. Throughout Australia ANSA programs are working collaboratively with fisheries agencies and research bodies on a range of projects and this has meant a reduction in the cost of that research, a greater sense of involvement and ownership by the end users and improved uptake of the new knowledge being generated. Austag has become an important facet of ANSA that has grown from the simple desire to tag fish. It is now contributing significantly to our pool of research data and knowledge on important recreational fish species.


5. How Austag Works

Austag is an umbrella program that coordinates the collection of tagging, catch and effort and hooking location data by ANSA members and associated organisations throughout Australia.

5.1 Austag Structure

Austag provides the framework and standards for the management and operation of separate programs in each State as outlined in figure 1.

AUSTAG

SUNTAG NEWTAG VICTAG TASTAG SAFTAG WESTAG TOPTAG

Policies, Data QualityStandards and DataCollection Manual

Database and State program management in cooperation with State Fisheries agencies

AFANTtagging

Figure 1: Relationship between Austag and the State tagging programs

The Austag Coordinator is responsible for the setting and maintenance of overall standards within which the State and subsidiary programs operate, providing support and guidance to the State programs and developing and refining operational aspects of data collection. The subsidiary programs under Austag are where the data are collected and stored. As the database in use around Australia is the same, data can be readily assembled and analysed on an Australia wide basis. While the State programs conform to the national standards they are managed and operated independently with State Tagging Coordinators responsible for the collection, storage and dissemination of tagging and catch and effort data in their own States.

5.2 Austag on the web

A joint Infofish-ANSA website www.info-fish.net provides easy access to information on Austag and Suntag. The website homepage is shown in figure 2. This is being constantly maintained making it easier for State Tagging Coordinators, Club Tagging Coordinators and taggers to access the current data collection instructions and forms. An Austag Manual is available that covers all aspects of data collection. The Austag Manual was initially approved by the ANSA Board in 2000/01 and is constantly maintained with updating of individual Work Instructions. From 2003/04 the master copy of the manual has been available from the website. During 2003/04 a new etrip form was developed to allow easier collection of the range of data now being requested. The etrip form, complete with help instructions, is available in electronic as well as paper format and allows those with access to the Internet to complete details after a fishing trip and email the results to their Tagging Coordinator. This has significantly improved data collection and reduced the time it takes to get data into the database from months to days.

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Figure 2: Infofish homepage where the Austag Manual and all aspects of tagging can be accessed

5.3 Tagging Equipment

Tags, applicators to apply the tags, and ancillary equipment are the specialised requirements of tagging and account for much of the expenditure in the program. A full range of tagging equipment is available from Infofish Services or from some of the State programs.

Figure 3: Tag wallet, tag applicators, Arrow tag gun, fold up measuring ruler and spare needles

Some of the products available are in figure 3. A brochure on the full range of tagging products available can be downloaded from www.info-fish.net or by contacting Infofish on telephone 07-4928-6133 or email [email protected].




Chris and Lauren Upite from Henderson Australia produce some of the tagging products available such as the tagging wallet and roll out tagging kit and their support for Austag is acknowledged. Tags used in Austag programs are Hallprint tags obtained from Hallprint Pty Ltd of South Australia. The support of David Hall of Hallprint for our Austag programs is acknowledged. The two types of tags most commonly used in Austag programs are the dart or spear tag and the anchor or gun tag. Both these tags are used in a number of sizes. Some other specialised tags such as body cavity tags are used for specific projects.

5.4 Tag and Recapture Certificates

A very important aspect of Austag is providing feedback to fishers. One of the ways that is done is through providing a Tag and Recapture Certificate that records the full history of a recaptured fish including all recaptures if it has been recaptured more than once. A certificate, as shown in figure 4, is provided to both the person that recaptured the fish and the tagger. The Australian Fishing Tackle Association (AFTA) has been a long-term sponsor of our tag and recapture certificates and their support is acknowledged. Since 2001/02 almost 12,000 certificates have been issued around Australia. We are grateful for the continuing AFTA sponsorship of the certificates.

Figure 4: Austag certificate used to provide feedback on recaptured fish

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6. Scope of ANSA Research

ANSA is now extensively involved in research through Austag. This involves collecting data on the fishing activities of our members and working collaboratively with research bodies on research that addresses issues of concern to our members and recreational fishers in general. There are now six broad areas that Austag is involved in.

6.1 Tagging

ANSA has been involved in tagging since the 1970’s. Initially this was through the NSW Game Fish Tagging Program (GFTP) and then the Queensland Recreational Sportfish Tagging Program that was established by the QDPI in the mid 1970’s at the request of ANSA Qld members. In 1986/87 the management of the Queensland program was transferred from the QDPI to ANSA Qld and eventually became Suntag. Tagging has mainly been used to obtain movement and growth of important recreational species however specific projects have used tagging to assist in addressing broader issues. Each State branch of ANSA has their own tagging program and they work collaboratively with their respective State Fisheries agency.

6.2 Catch and Effort

In 1996/97 ANSA NSW and ANSA Qld both commenced programs to collect catch and effort to obtain data on catch rates of its members. Data collected was extended to include all fish caught, kept and released, and the time spent fishing. The catch rates of ANSA members may not reflect catch rates of the average recreational fisher as their skill level is generally higher however the trend in catch rates of our members can be indicative of the trend in catch rates of the broader fishing population. Many of the members providing catch and effort data are also those involved in tagging and it has been possible to get many of them to record the lengths of all fish caught. This has been useful in obtaining size composition data for their catches.

6.3 Released Fish Survival

In 2000/01 our Westag program became involved in a WA Fisheries research project to examine the survival of undersized reef fish. This project was the forerunner to the establishment of the National Strategy for the Survival of Released Line Caught Fish by the FRDC in 2001/02. That strategy now involves a total investment of $6.5 million in 15 projects by FRDC, State Fisheries agencies and other bodies. The strategy aims to improve knowledge of the survival of line caught fish released by recreational fishers. As ANSA members have been at the forefront of releasing fish for several decades, involvement in the strategy was a natural progression. The ANSA code of practice on releasing fish, adopted in 2002, was used as the basis for best practices in releasing fish and in 2004/05 Recfish Australia adopted a similar policy. ANSA has assisted in the promotion of best practices, become involved in a number of the research projects through our tagging programs to obtain data on long-term survival and extended our data collection to locations where hooks are lodged in fish. Research in the USA has shown that deep hooking of fish is a significant cause of fish mortality. Collecting data on hooking locations and the terminal gear used will provide valuable information that can be used in determining survival estimates. The National Strategy will continue through to 2006/07 and it is expected that ANSA will continue to play an ongoing role in data collection and extension of the results of the research.


6.4 Research Support

ANSA members have for many years been involved in collecting biological samples for researchers in support of research projects into important recreational species. There have also been projects where ANSA has provided logistic support and assisted with sampling during field data collection. Suntag has provided support to university students undertaking research work by assisting them with data collection on tagging where that is part of their research. This allows students to concentrate on data analysis and hypothesis testing rather than on routine data collection. Suntag has extended data collection to Mud Crabs in support of QDPI&F research and also to community-based projects collecting data on crabs. Suntag is also providing support to fish stocking groups wanting to obtain information on their stocked fish. Suntag has also been working with Capricorn Sunfish and the Coastal CRC in Central Queensland on a project examining the effects of environmental freshwater flows on estuaries. As part of that work the use of wetlands by juvenile Barramundi has been monitored for the past six years. This has helped understand the timing of fish using these wetlands and the level of recruitment each year compared with climatic conditions and water flows. ANSA members have provided valuable information by assisting with sampling and by reporting the incidental catch of small barramundi in bait nets.

6.5 Community Based Monitoring A new role for Suntag was developed during 2004/05 with the establishment of the CapReef program in Central Queensland. The CapReef program was set up in Central Queensland to improve the community’s ability to take part in management decision processes that affect them, following the introduction of zoning of the GBRMP that closed 33% of the marine park to fishing. CapReef was set up to collect data on the effect of this change on fishers and fish. Data will be collected in 2005/06 on catch and effort, fish movement through tagging, attitudes to the changes and changes in fisher behavior. This will be done through boat ramp surveys, fishing trip information, using Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV), specific fishing experiments and social surveys. Funding for CapReef is being provided by the Fitzroy Basin Association and the Natural Heritage Trust.

6.6 Historical Tagging Data

Much of the tagging data that is collected is the responsibility of the individual researcher that has collected it. Once the data is used in the preparation of a technical or scientific paper it can often become ‘lost’ over time as researchers move on. While the data has served its primary purpose it can be used in the future with other data or can be re-analysed to answer new questions. Suntag has been seeking old tagging datasets and incorporating them into its database. Bringing old data into the database provides a single dataset in a common format over a long timeline and makes further analysis of data much easier. In 2003/04 the entire tailor tagging dataset for Queensland from the 1970’s onward has been obtained and is being incorporated into the database. In future this entire dataset will be readily available to researchers in a single format.

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7. Tagging

Each Tagging Coordinator has provided a separate report on their tagging program.

7.1 Suntag

7.1.1 Suntag Highlights for 2004/05

Suntag tagging highlights for the year were:

Total fish and crabs tagged now exceed 420,000 and 34,000 recaptures. Barramundi became the first species where over 100,000 fish have been tagged with

over 108,000 fish tagged. Overall recapture rate for all fish species has fallen to 8.1% indicating a continuing

reduction in overall fishing effort. The release rate of recaptured fish was over 60% for the second year in a row

indicating an increasing proportion of fish caught being released. Three reports using Suntag data were produced. Charter operator Tony Stewart tagged the most fish for the year with 1,572 while Mick

Dohnt remains the top individual tagger with 1,434.

7.1.2 Suntag Participation

A total of 6,800 taggers have now participated in Suntag having tagged at least one fish since 1986/87. In 2004/05 there were 870 participating taggers. While the number of individual taggers participating in Suntag has fallen slightly over the past 3 years this year there has been a slight increase. A total of over 12,800 fishers have participated in Suntag thought the capture of a tagged fish. In 2004/05 there were over 1,160 fishers that reported the recapture of a tagged fish with many fishers recapturing more than one fish. Figure 5 shows the numbers of fishers tagging and recapturing fish each year.

SUNTAG PARTICIPATION

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Figure 5: Summary of participation in Suntag since 1986/87


7.1.3 Suntag Fish Tagged and Recaptured

SUNTAG FISH TAGGED AND RECAPTURED

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Figure 6: Suntag fish tagged and recaptured since 1986/87 The Suntag database now has over 420,000 tagged fish records with almost 419,000 between 1986/87 and 2004/05. There have been 34,000 recaptures over the same period. The overall recapture rate is 8.1% however is as high as 19.1% for some species (Red Emperor) and 23% for some locations. Figure 6 shows the number of fish tagged and recaptured each year since 1986/87. In 2004/05 there were 40,648 fish and crabs tagged and 2,005 recaptures recorded. While participation has remained steady the number of fish and crabs tagged has increased with a record number of fish tagged for the year. This is largely the result of fish tagging projects being undertaken by fish stocking groups.

7.1.4 Suntag Key Species Tagged and Recapture Rates

Barramundi remain as the most tagged species and has become the first species where over 100,000 fish have been tagged. The total number of Barramundi tagged is now with 108,766 fish tagged followed by Australian Bass with over 37,700 tagged. The recapture rate for Barramundi is 8.8% while for Bass it is 9.1%. Figure 7 shows the number of key species tagged with the corresponding recapture rate. Species with recapture rates over 10% include Dusky Flathead at 10.3%, Gold Spot Estuary Cod at 13.0%, Mud Crab at 24.6%, Black Spot Estuary Cod at 13.2% and Red Emperor at 19.1%. Species with recapture rates below 5% include Yellowfin Bream at 4.4%, Pikey Bream at 4.7%, Barred Javelin at 3.2%, School Mackerel at 1.9% and Speckled Javelin at 2.1%. Red Emperor has the highest recapture rate of any of the species tagged. The recapture rate for Mud Crab is high due to a lot of crabs being recaptured as part of research experiments. Other species where the recapture rate is over 10% are Smallmouth Nannygai (10.6%) and Largemouth Nannygai (10.4%).

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SUNTAG KEY SPECIES TAGGED

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Figure 7: Total numbers of key species tagged and their recapture rate

7.1.5 Suntag Recapture Rate

The Suntag recapture rate has been used for a number of years as an indicator of fishing effort. While there are many factors that influence the recapture rate most of these are near constant from year to year or small in their effect on the recapture rate. The greatest variable is fishing effort and this can be demonstrated by comparing the recapture rate from heavily fished and remote lightly fished locations.

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Figure 8: Recapture rate for all fish from 1985/86 to 2004/05

Figure 8 shows the overall and yearly recapture rates from 1985/86 to 2004/05 for all fish, crabs have been excluded. The overall recapture rate is simply the total number of fish


recaptured to that time compared with the total number tagged while the rate each year is simply the number of recaptures for each year compared with the number tagged in that year. The overall recapture rate for all fish species at the end of 2004/05 was 7.8% while the yearly recapture rate was 4.8%. While this is the lowest rate since the late 1980s the rate this year was influenced by the large number of small tagged Barramundi (around 200mm) released by stocking groups. These fish are generally below the size that these fish are caught and will not be recaptured regularly until 2005/06. Recapture rates peaked in the mid 1990’s and have declined since then with the rate of decline increasing over the past four years. This suggests that overall fishing effort has declined over that time with a sharp but consistent decline over the past four years. Two surveys into participation rates in recreational fishing in 1996 and 1998 have show little change in the participation rate supporting the data from recaptures.

7.1.6 Suntag Released Fish Rate

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Figure 9: Percentage of recaptured tagged fish released by recreational fishers

The released fish rate has been calculated by comparing the number of recaptured tagged fish that are released to those that have been kept each year however the analysis does not take into account whether the fish was of legal size or not. Figure 9 shows a comparison of the release rates for ANSA members, recreational fishers other than ANSA members and the combined rates. There is a clear trend among non-ANSA fishers towards releasing more fish with the overall release rate for the past two years at just over 60%. ANSA members have had a consistently high release rate of tagged fish of over 90% for most of the past decade however they are now catching fewer tagged fish than other recreational fishers. Data collected in the Rfish survey of 1996 showed an overall release rate of 53% compared with the Suntag rate of 55%. In 1998 the Rfish survey rate was 51% compared with 54% from Suntag.

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7.1.7 Suntag Special Projects

The use of wetlands by juvenile Barramundi has been monitored since 1998/99 by Capricorn Suntag, in partnership with Suntag. In 2004/05 a report was produced showing the estimated time of spawning each year, the levels of recruitment of Barramundi to wetlands each year and the possible connection between the time of initial spawning and storm and rainfall activity. In December 2002 there was the first release of larger Barramundi by a stocking group that were all tagged. This release was by the Cairns Area Fish Stocking Group and the QDPI&F and involved 3,010 fish ranging from 170-300mm released into Trinity Inlet. This stocking was followed up by a further release in Trinity Inlet and the Barron River of 2,480 tagged fish in February 2004 and 1,246 tagged fish in April 2005. Growth and movement of these fish is being monitored through Suntag and regular reports are provided back to the stocking group and QDPI&F. A number of other stocking groups have released large numbers of similar sized tagged fish into impoundments including Lake Tinaroo (10,500), Lake Dalrymple (515), Lake Prosperpine (135) and Lake Callide (600). A total of 11,750 tagged Barramundi have been released in these impoundment from 2003/04 to 2004/05. This will allow comparisons of the results of a number of stockings in impoundments. Similar tagged Barramundi have also been released into weirs and rivers systems such as Clare Weir on the Burdekin River (1,950), Moura Weir on the Dawson River (600), Bedford Weir on the Mackenzie River (600) and in Alligator Creek above the Rockhampton Barrage (1,200). A total of 4,350 tagged fish have been released since 2003/04. As well there are stocked Barramundi being tagged as part of ongoing monitoring in Ross River weirs at Townsville, Burdekin River at Charters Towers, Lake Belmore at Croydon, Hedlow Creek and Serpentine Lagoon. This provides a unique opportunity to follow stocked fish in open systems over the next few years. Capricorn Tag and Release Sportfishing Club (Captag) has been collecting data on fish in the Department of Defence Shoalwater Bay Training Area since 1999/00. The fishing has been controlled to provide comparative data over the years. Report 10 summarising the data was produced during 2004/05. Figure 10 shows the reports produced and these are available from the website at www.info-fish.net.

Figure 10: Suntag reports produced in 2004/05




7.1.8 Suntag Tagging Awards

Table 1 shows the taggers that qualified for Tagging Excellence Awards (TEA) during 2004/05. To qualify for the award a tagger must tag a minimum number of fish to reach 2,000 tagging points.

Tagger Species TAA Year TEA Year Fish Points Chris Gormley Barramundi 02/03 04/05 676 2028 Michael Dohnt Grass Emperor 94/95 04/05 542 2168 Peter Griffiths Yellowfin Bream 98/99 04/05 1043 2096 John Daniels Yellowfin Bream 97/98 04/05 1069 2138 TOTAL 4

Table 1: Suntag Tagging Excellence Awards 2004/05

Tagging of 1,000 fish in total is required to qualify as a Frequent Tagger. To date 67 taggers have reached this milestone having tagged over 155,000 fish in total and that is around 37% of all fish tagged. This year a further 5 taggers joined this group. These were Bob Avery of Army Sportfishing Club, John Dolgner of Captag Sportfishing Club, Helen Johnson of Bluewater Sportfishing Club, Michael Powell of Captag Sportfishing Club and Warren Ferrington of Keppel Bay Sportfishing Club Each year a special award is made to the person that tags the most fish. This award is a special shield provided by the QDPI&F. The Award is the Phil Brooks Memorial Award in memory of Phil Brooks who was an avid supporter of the tagging program. Mick Dohnt has been the top tagger each year since 1996/97 however last year he was overhauled right at the end of the year by Tony Stewart. Tony is a charter boat operator from Rainbow Beach and this year again he tagged 1,572 fish to just beat Mick on 1,434. Mick still remains the top individual tagger and the highest aggregate number of fish tagged at 16,723.

Details of all Suntag awards are now available on the website www.info-fish.net.

7.1.9 Suntag Feedback

A total of 2,005 recaptures were recorded in 2004/05. Feedback on these recaptures, through tag and recapture certificates (figure 4), was provided to both the fisher recapturing the fish and the tagger. In the past year over 4,000 certificates were sent out (an average of over 10 per day). The other main form of feedback is though the Suntag News bulletins (figure 11). These are a single page covering interesting recaptures of tagged fish and other items of interest about Suntag. A further 15 News bulletins were sent out in 2004/05 bringing the total number of bulletins to 109. The bulletins are provided by email to over 750 subscribers. Clubs use material from these bulletins in their newsletters and fishing magazines and newspapers pick up items as well. Geoff Orr regularly uses material from Suntag News in his weekly fishing column in the Courier Mail.

Figure 11: Suntag News bulletin used to provide feedback on interesting recaptures

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7.2 Newtag

7.2.1 Newtag Summary 2004/05

Another year has passed without any real progress in our attempt to establish an independent sportfish tagging program within NSW. The Department of Primary Industries- Fisheries (DPIF) has been reluctant to allow NEWTAG any sort of control of a sportfish tagging program within NSW, and once again sees NSW the only state within Australia not having access to critical information and research that may ‘challenge’ some of the management decisions DPIF are making. In my opinion, a catch-22 situation, but last time I looked we lived in a democracy and we were actually contributing to the management of the resource. Whilst we will continue to put tags in fish, many other opportunities will continue to bypass the members of ANSA NSW. There have also been some very ‘interesting’ developments since last years NEWTAG report, the most appalling one being the Tallowa Bass Tagging Program that NEWTAG has had in front of DPIF for the past 3 years and has, to this date, yet to receive an official response since we put the program up for funding. Interestingly enough a very similar program was introduced and approved via another fishing group working with DPIF. I will be encouraging the Executive to follow up this matter. Also the Black Bream tagging program that we were trying to get involved in has seen its star recruit, Steve Starling tear strips off DPIF in his regular fishing magazine column. It seems the bream Steve was tagging are being used to justify some major closures to the Black Bream fishery on the south coast of NSW, something I am sure that the initial research failed to mention. Steve goes on to say that rather than employing effective management tools like size limits, bag limits and catch and release, DPIF easy fix solution is to lock it up. On a much brighter note, NEWTAG was involved in a FRDC project, trying to determine the survival of line caught flathead, no tags, no possible closures, just some compelling evidence that will hopefully encourage the anglers of Australia to modify there methods to increase the survival of released flathead. The progress report was presented in Hobart on the 10th August 2005 and is provided in Section 10.

7.3 Victag

7.3.1 Victag Highlights for 2004/05

The 2004/05 season will go down as the year of the Dusky Flathead. Due to the tireless efforts of Peter Spehr, his son Paul and Brett Geddes 2,873 Dusky Flathead were tagged and released in East Gippsland. This resulted in 236 recaptures processed for this species during the year. There were also 1,118 Snapper under 40cm tagged for the year along with 929 Black Bream and 395 Estuary Perch.

To date 6,152 tag releases have been recorded on the database for 2004/05 with some datasheets still being submitted. The total tag releases on the database is currently standing at 60,974 fish with 1,771 recaptures which represents a 2.90% return on tag releases. Victag was once again unsuccessful in obtaining any funding from the Recreational Fishing License trust funds. This placed significant pressures on the program as it looked like we were going to struggle to cover our operational costs for a while. MAFRI purchased $2,000 for 2,000 hook locations for Bream and Snapper which took some pressure off. Victag is now out of t-bar and dart tags and only has a few hundred large shark tags in stock. Funding was also sort by way of corporate sponsorship but this was also unsuccessful. Our forth and ultimately unsuccessful application to the Fisheries Revenue Allocation Committee (FRAC) has been made


by Victag. This application was prepared by Ross Winstanley and I would like to thank Ross for his time and effort he has put in.

Year 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 Total Total Tag Releases 5,809 6,840 7,606 8,130 6,152 60,974 Total Recaptures 192 137 148 232 367 1,771 Rate Of Return 3.30% 2.01% 1.94% 2.85% 5.97% 2.90%

Table 2: Results of Victag tagging over the past five years

Table 2 summarises the results over the last five years. It was a big year for recaptures as can be seen with 367 recaptures processed, clearly our biggest year for recaptures by a considerable margin. While Dusky Flathead dominated there were some great Snapper, Bream and Mulloway recaptures reported. The tag releases were down due to our inability to maintain a steady tag supply to the taggers.

7.3.2 Species Tagged and Recapture Rates

Table 3 summarises the tag releases and recaptures for the 2004/05 season and provides a comparison with overall results of the program.

2004/05 Overall

Species Fish

tagged Recaptures Recap Rate

Fish tagged Recaptures

Recap Rate

Snapper over 39cm 54 10 18.52% 198 21 10.61%

Flathead Yank 23 1 4.35% 602 31 5.15%

Flathead Dusky 2,873 236 8.21% 4,531 330 7.28%

Shark Gummy 54 8 14.81% 756 90 11.90%

Silver Trevally 37 1 2.70% 956 42 4.39%

Estuary Perch 395 9 2.28% 2,158 55 2.55%

Australian Salmon 203 6 2.96% 3,594 199 5.54%

Australian Bass 20 0 0.0% 117 1 0.85%

Snapper under 40cm 1,118 28 2.50% 21,479 350 1.63%

Black Bream 929 41 4.41% 14,634 300 2.05%

Whiting King George 246 6 2.44% 4,698 145 3.09%

Wrasse Blue Throat 6 1 16.67% 902 32 3.55%

Damaged 41 0 0.00% 736 0 0.00%

Elephant Fish 11 2 18.18% 297 6 2.02%

Luderick 40 0 0.00% 140 0 0.00%

Mulloway under 75cm 13 1 7.68% 54 1 1.85%

Table 3: Victag fish tagged and recaptured in 2004/05 and overall

The highest recapture rate for any species is still Gummy Shark at an overall rate of 11.90%. A significant percentage of these recaptures are reported by the commercial sector. The recapture rate for Snapper under 40 cm was higher at 2.50% in comparison to the overall rate of 1.63% while the recapture rate for Dusky Flathead, predominately a recreational species, was 8.21 % for the year compared with an overall rate of 7.28%.

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Figure 12: Peter Spehr and 64cm Dusky Flathead from Lake Tyers (left – Brett Geddes photo) and a dart Tagged Hopkins River Bream about to be released (right – Scott Gray Warnambool Fishcare photo)

7.3.3 Angler Tag Effort

The tag effort from ANSA members is way down from previous years with no ANSA member in the top ten taggers. Congratulations to Brett Geddes who managed to tag 1,314 fish for the season despite difficulties encountered in the tag supply. Peter Spehr also followed up last year’s incredible effort of 2,336 fish tagged with a lazy 1,051 fish for 2005. Congratulations also to Gerard Hawthorne who broke the 1,000 fish mark in only his second year as a member of Victag Taggers, a fantastic effort. Table 4 lists the top ten taggers for the year.

Fish Tagged

Angler 04/05 Total Club

1 Geddes B 1,314 2,147 Victag Tagger

2 Spehr Peter 1,051 3,676 Victag Tagger

3 Hawthorne G 502 1,141 Victag Tagger

4 Spehr Paul 494 623 Victag Tagger

5 Neaves P 339 6,110 Victag Tagger

6 Winstanley R 210 2,285 Victag Tagger

7 Fellows M 191 810 Victag Tagger

8 Dorward A 123 310 Victag Tagger

9 Lee G 123 1,445 Victag Tagger

10 Shingles R 117 138 Victag Tagger

Table 4: Top 10 Taggers in Victag


7.3.4 Club Tag Effort

The tag effort of ANSA Clubs has dropped dramatically again this year with the top five clubs managing to tag only 249 fish in total (table 5). The performance of clubs was down this year due in part to difficulties in maintaining a supply of tags. The total ANSA tag effort was only 6% of the total fish tagged for the year.

Club 2004/05 Total Portland SFC 75 8,200 ANSA Bellarine L G & SFC 52 944 ANSA Geelong Bluewater SFC 45 4,794 ANSA Port Fairy SFC 41 41 ANSA Dandenong SFC 36 2,300 ANSA Total 249

Table 5: Top clubs tagging in Victag

7.3.5 Recaptures of Interest

A Snapper (A26117), with a total length of 27cm, tagged by Kevin Cahill of the Portland Sport & Game Fishing Club on the 18 March 1997 off Portland in Western Victoria, was recaptured on the 30 October 2004 off Frankston in Port Phillip Bay with a reported total length of 70cm. This fish had been at liberty for 2,783 days during which time it had grown 43cm and travelled 324 km east. Another snapper tagged by Kevin on the 10th February 1999 with a total length/fork length of 33cm/29cm off Alestree near Portland was recaptured on the 31 October 2004 also off Frankston. The total length of this fish on recapture was reported at 54cm having grown by 21cm during its 2,090 days at liberty. A Snapper tagged by Ross Winstanley in Corio Bay on the 26 December 1997 with a total length/fork length of 29cm/26cm was recaptured 2,495 days later off Altona by a commercial fisher. This fish was reported by a restaurateur in Sydney who had purchased the fish from his local fish market. The fish had grown 34 cm, (fork length), during its time at liberty and was recaptured 48km from the tag release site. The otoliths were recovered from this fish by NSW Fisheries for microchemistry analysis and aging by the scientists at PIRVic. A 30cm Snapper tagged by Paul Neaves of Brighton in Port Phillip Bay on the 12 February 2000 was recaptured 1,756 days later at the Fawkner Beacon a mere 6 km from where the ish was originally tagged. The fish had grown by 24cm during its time at liberty with a reported total length of 54cm. A Westernport Bay Snapper tagged on the 20 January 2001 with a fork length of 29cm by Helen Burnie of the Westernport Angling Club. The fish was recaptured back in Westernport Bay on 3 March 2005 after 1,503 days at liberty and had grown by 22cm with a reported fork length of 51cm. This fish was released by the angler who recaptured it. A 20cm Black Bream tagged in the Glenelg River by Cheryl Schulz of the Portland Sport & Game Fishing Club on the 29 December 2001 was recaptured on 8 March 2005 at Granite Rocks near Kingston in South Australia. The fish had grown by 4cm during its 1,165 days at liberty and travelled 225 km north west. A Black Bream tagged in the Anglesea River on the 28 January 2003 with total length of 20cm by Victag Tagger Jeff Welsh was recaptured on the 6 January 2005 after 709 days at liberty with a reported total length of 23.3cm. This fish had only grown by 3.3cm. However a 23cm Glenelg River Black Bream tagged by Elizabeth Astbury of the Portland Sport & Game Fishing Club on the 15 December 2002 with a total length of 23cm was recaptured on 15 April 2005 with a reported total length of 30.5cm. During this Bream’s 852 days at liberty it had grown by 7.5cm. A Dusky Flathead tagged by Brett Geddes in Lake Tyers on the 12 July 2003, total length 32cm, was recaptured 483 days later on the 6 November 2004. This fish had grown by an

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incredible 16cm during this period with a reported total length of 48cm. Another Dusky tagged by Brett in Lake Tyers on the 7 August 2004 with a total length of 47cm was recaptured 100 days later 10kms downstream and in the main body of Lake Tyers. The fish had grown by 1cm during this period. The fish was released and subsequently recaptured again 96 days later by Peter Spehr on the 19 February 2005. The total length of the fish on recapture was still 48cm however it had swum back upstream to the area where it had been originally tagged a distance of 10km. This is yet another example of how extensively the Dusky Flathead move around this system. A 35cm Blue Throat Wrasse that was tagged on the 6 April 2001 by Murray Stewart of the Geelong Bluewater Sportfishing Club was recaptured after 1,299 days at Barwon Heads. The angler failed to measure this fish but reported that it was over a kilo in weight and it had moved approximately 2 km west. The fish was released by the angler so hopefully it will be recaptured again at some stage in the future. This fish is the longest at liberty Blue Throat Wrasse recorded on the database and shows that this species will hold a tag for a considerable period of time. Elephant Fish attract a lot of attention from anglers when they make there annual run into Westernport Bay. A 65cm Elephant Fish tagged by Eddie Coronado on the 12 April 2005 at Corinella was recaptured by a commercial fisher a mere 76 days later of Lakes Entrance. This fish had swum 305 km north east travelling at an average of 4 km per day.

7.3.6 Funding

The issue of funding is a continual challenge for the program. Our application to the Fisheries Revenue Allocation Committee, (FRAC), was again rejected for the fourth year in a row. The lack of support for Victag, which has proven itself over more than a decade to be a valuable addition to the data sources on Victorian recreational fisheries, continues to be a disappointment. This disappointment is magnified by the lack of support from our own industry people who continue to ignore this program in favour of government/departmental projects. What more does Victag need to do to demonstrate its value in involving recreational fishers in data collection and research? An application has recently been submitted for funding to the RFCGP of the Commonwealth Government. Hopefully the Commonwealth Government will provide greater recognition to Victag than it receives from the Victorian Government.

7.3.7 Conclusion

Volunteer programs such as Victag would not function without the special efforts of many people. I’d like to thank Brian Hayes for his support and assistance. Brian has been managing the 1800 toll free hotline since November 2004 which has been a fantastic. I don’t think I would have made through the season without Brian sharing the workload. I’d also like to thank Brett Geddes for his fantastic efforts in promoting Victag and unending support. I’d like to thank Peter Spehr for his enthusiasm, support, patience and fantastic work he has done in Lake Tyers. I’d also like to thank all the taggers and anglers reporting recaptures for their commitment to the program and their patience with the Co-ordinator. I’d also like to thank Tony Jones who has continued as Treasurer of Victag. I am stepping down as Co-ordinator. I wish the program and the new Co-ordinator, George Hayden from the Port Fairy SFC, well whatever the future holds. George can be contacted on ph 03-5599-2429 or email [email protected]. Once again I would like to thank Brian Hayes and all the Victag taggers for their support over the last three years. Adrian Arkinstall Retiring Victag Co-Ordinator



Figure 13: A 64cm Glenelg River Mulloway on release (photo Scott Gray – Warrnambool Fishcare)

7.4 Tastag

No report is available on Tastag for 2004/05.

7.5 Saftag

7.5.1 Saftag Summary for 2004/05

Tagging in SA during the last 12 months has again provided some very interesting information for SA fishers to consider as well as the occasional interesting story. I guess one of the strangest incidents occurred at Port Augusta earlier this year at the peak of the Yellowtail Kingfish season there.

John Bills from Adelaide Sportfishing Club was hooked up to a nice 20 kilo Kingfish when a couple of anglers from a local GFAA club motored past and noticed the bent rod. Deciding this might provide some interesting footage, Brad and Kate pulled out the video camera and filmed the remainder of the fight and landing. On boating the fish John noticed a tag, so in order to release the fish asap he yelled out the tag number to be recorded on video and swam the Kingfish off. Phone numbers were traded and both boats went about the serious business of trying to catch another Kingfish.

On the phone a few days later it was discovered that Brad had filmed the recapture of a Kingfish that he had actually tagged himself only a month or so earlier.

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On the subject of Kingfish, it has been pleasing this year to see a marked increase in the numbers of fish tagged and recaptures of these beautiful fish. Good numbers of all size fish have been tagged at Port Augusta and quite a few large fish have been tagged around the Port Lincoln offshore grounds. These Port Lincoln grounds are growing in popularity as more large charter vessels realise the value of the sportfishing down there. It will be very interesting over time to see if the local Kingfish populations intermingle and/or mix with the east or west coast populations.

Recaptures, so far, suggest that the Port Augusta population might be fairly localised but a few smaller fish tagged around Arno Bay, on the western side of Spencer gulf, have been recaptured at various places on the eastern side of the gulf around 100km away.

Snapper recaptures have still not shown a great deal of migratory movement for fish tagged in our Gulfs. We have, however, finally recorded a significant movement by a Snapper tagged at Fowlers Bay on our west coast. After 1,001 days out this small Snapper was recaptured south of Esperance in WA which is awfully close to a 1,000 km trip (figure 14). Over the period it had grown from 430mm to 580mm which translates to a growth rate of a little under 50mm per year. Interestingly, the VICTAG angler who tagged the fish subsequently travelled a similar distance in the other direction to return home to Portland.

Another piece of information that may be related (or not all) is that one of the CSIRO's satellite tagged White Pointer Sharks has travelled over a very similar route although it would appear at a much faster pace. Details can be viewed at

http://www.marine.csiro.au/research/whitesharks/tracks/bomber.html

Figure 14: Snapper tagged at Fowlers Bay in SA and recaptured at Esperance in WA

Last year, I made a prediction that Spencer Gulf Snapper catches would plummet in around 2006. I see no reason to retract that yet but am going to stick my neck out a little further by suggesting that the Spencer Gulf stock may be a distinct population. I'm slowly developing the opinion that SA may have 4 distinct Snapper populations. Perhaps we have a distinct west coast stock that migrates from around Port Lincoln across to WA. The second population

http://www.marine.csiro.au/research/whitesharks/tracks/bomber.html


possibly occurs from near the Murray Mouth and mixes with the Victorian population across to Portland or even Port Philip Bay. The remaining two populations would appear to be restricted to the two Gulfs, Spencer Gulf and Gulf of St Vincent respectively. If this were proven via say, DNA sampling, the four stocks would need to managed separately. As much as I hate complicated bag and size limits it may be necessary one day to manage Snapper exactly that way. As is usual we've provided our collective tagging data in figure 15. The total number of fish tagged is still growing at a fairly steady rate. Our overall recapture rate seems stable for a third year. We have experienced quite a drop in Kingfish return percentages but that is probably explained by the increased number tagged this year.

Til next year... Marcel Vandergoot SAFTAG Co-ordinator

SAFTAG FISH TAGGED AND RECAPTURED

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Figure 15: Numbers of SAFTAG fish tagged and percentage recaptured

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Figure 16: Key SAFTAG species tagged and recapture rates

7.6 Westag

7.6.1 Westag Summary for 2004/05

It has been a good year for Westag with the database almost at the 20,000 tag mark. This year has seen more than twice as many tags placed than the year previous. The greater rate of tag placement is due to continuing and growing efforts of the Nickol Bay Sportfishing Club in the north-west of the state as well as Westag’s further association with fish tagging research projects. My involvement with Westag has been very rewarding. In terms of my own research (PhD on Biology, Ecology and Sportfishery of Samson Fish) I have made a great network of keen and very knowledgeable fishers who have aided greatly in developing study areas of interest. Such a positive attitude by recreational fishers towards research, management and care of the resource is very encouraging indeed. Two finfish research projects lead by the WA Department of Fisheries are now considered ‘world class’ due, in part, to the outstanding service and efforts of people associated with ANSA WA and Recfishwest. Each of these FRDC funded projects, namely “Maximising survival of released undersize west coast reef fish” (FRDC Project 2000/194) and “Management and monitoring of fish spawning aggregations within the West Coast Bio-region of Western Australia” (FRDC Project 2004/051), rely critically on good quality fish tag data. Westag is a key component in each of these projects. These cooperative associations have proven that scientifically rigorous research collaborations are possible and will now continue for future projects. The Samson Fish tagging project, in particular (detailed in the Research Support Section of this report), is regarded by FRDC as a model for future collaborative research. Through their efforts ANSA WA and Recfishwest have revealed, and provided, a previously untapped wealth


of knowledge and quality, cost effective, research assistance. These two WA research projects in which Westag is an integral part, link directly with the National Strategy on Released Fish Survival, to which other Austag related research projects also contribute. The full details of these projects can be found in Section 10 of this report.

Figure 17: Andrew Rowland about to release a Pink Snapper

I would like to thank John Stevens who has assisted greatly through the 2004/05 season entering tag and recapture data. Thanks must also be extended to Judy Andrews who has done an excellent job since taking on the Tagging Coordinator’s role for the Nickol Bay Sportfishing Club (currently the most frequent taggers in the state). 7.6.2 Westag Highlights for 2004/05

Undoubtedly the highlight of the year was the Westag involvement in a tagging project called Samson Science, which was lead by the Department of Fisheries and Murdoch University. The Samson Science tagging project completed in January 2005 was widely acclaimed a successful collaboration between scientists and recreational fishers. Media and community interest in the project was considerable and data obtained during the tagging of almost 2,500 fish in 4 weeks was regarded as exceptional in quality. The rough weather and difficult fishing conditions encountered while capturing these large fish make the results that much more impressive. This project also provided important insights into recreational fishing, and ongoing recaptures will continue to deliver information about movement patterns of this important sportfish species.

7.6.3 Westag Participation

Participation in the north of the state, Westag’s traditional stronghold, continues to grow. The public awareness of tagging generated through the publicity of the associated research projects has also seen a large increase in fisher involvement in the southern areas of WA. 7.6.4 Westag Fish Tagged and Recaptured

Total fish tagged under Westag up to end of 2004/05 is 19,324 fish with 758 recaptures (3.9%). Figure 19 provides a summary of fish tagged and recaptured each year from 1996/97 to 2004/05 with a significant increase in the number of fish tagged in 2004/05.

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Figure 18: Wally Parkin with a tagged Samson Fish ready for release

WESTAG FISH TAGGED AND RECAPTURED

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Figure 19: Westag fish tagged and recaptured since 1996/97


7.6.5 Westag Key Species Tagged and Recapture Rate

Figure 20 shows the number of fish tagged and recaptured for Westag key species. Species Tags Recaptures % Returns

Samson Fish 5651 110 1.9 Barramundi 2778 143 5.3 Mangrove Jack 2224 131 5.9 Dhufish 1291 127 9.8 Pink Snapper 1163 107 9.2 Coral Trout 759 11 1.4 Blue Line Emperor 756 10 1.3 Threadfin – King 660 30 4.5 Threadfin – Blue 505 10 2.0 Tailor 471 19 4.0 Red Emperor 397 14 3.5 Mackerel – NB 364 4 1.1 Breaksea Cod 311 11 3.5 Spangled Emperor 310 3 1.0 Mulloway 245 36 14.7 Mackerel Broad Barred 185 0 Nil Fingermark Bream 88 9 10.2 Baldchin Groper 66 0 Nil

Figure 20: Westag species tagged, recaptured and recapture rates

7.6.6 Westag Special Projects and Research

This year Westag was able to assist the Volunteer Fisheries Liaison Officers (VFLOs) continue their summer tailor tagging program in the Swan River. Under the guidance of the Department of Fisheries this small group of dedicated volunteers (who play a large angler education role in WA) tagged a total of 257 undersize tailor in 14 fishing sessions. The tagging program this year revealed large distance movements, both upstream and downstream, of juvenile tailor in the Swan River. Recfishwest’s association with Westag continues on the Western Australian demersal released fish survival project with tagged and recaptured fish numbers now reaching the level needed by researchers to produce significant results. The preliminary results are presented in the Research Support section of this report. Westag’s and Recfishwest’s promotion of the release weight continues, and as this research is part of the National Strategy on Released Fish Survival there is great interest from all over Australia and the World (Japan, South Africa and the United States). The release weight brochure has proved to be very popular through out the state. A second run of brochure has now been printed. Westag continues to provide data to Murdoch University for its Threadfin Salmon research project. Taggers in the north of the state (mostly in the Nickol Bay region) have tagged 590 King Threadfin Salmon (Polydactylus macrochir). Figure 21 shows some of the northern movement of this species in WA (thanks to Matt Pember for the map). The WA Department of Fisheries had initially intended the Samson Science project to be a single event. However there has been considerable interest amongst the recreational fishing community to contribute further to this research. This, along with a need to gather further information on movement patterns and reproductive strategies has led to ‘Samson Science 2’ during the next spawning season. This new project will likewise be a collaboration between researchers and fishers, with a further focus on tagging in regional areas as well as in the metropolitan area.

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Figure 21: Movement of King Threadfin Salmon tagged in Nickol Bay

Samson Science 2 will include the following additions to the current research program:

• Regional Samson Fish tagging events in collaboration with recreational fishers in Busselton and Albany regions. The separate regional tagging events have great support from local fishing groups and will spread stewardship of this fishery into regional areas and well as significantly contributing to the project objectives.

• A smaller scale metropolitan tagging project tagging project will be conducted early during the spawning season to obtain more information about the length of stay by individual fish within the aggregations and increase the chances of recaptures over the spawning period.

Westag continues to support Pink Snapper research undertaken by Corey Wakefield for a collaborative research project between Murdoch University and the Department of Fisheries WA and provide Mulloway tag data to Bryn Farmer at Murdoch University. 7.6.7 Westag Tagging Awards

Once again Allan Bevan from Shikari Charters took out the highest number of fish tagged with 1,604. Allan continues to play a key role assisting finfish research in WA, not only does he tag plenty of fish, he also give his time to help with research information workshops and collects many biological samples (fish frames) for numerous Fisheries Department and university projects. The best individual taggers this year all came from the north of the state with the top honors going to Jay Wheelock with 294 tags for the year. Other notable taggers were Mark Cottrell with 279, Garry Frayne with 256 and Justin Neil with 254 tags for the year.


7.6.8 Westag Conclusion

With Westag’s growing reputation of providing top quality data to fisheries researchers, the future looks very bright indeed. However, as in the past, its success will most likely rely heavily on a small band of dedicated individuals. In conclusion I would like to thank Stephen Gilders, Frank Prokop and Recfishwest for the opportunity to be involved with Westag over the past two years. I am grateful for the support of ANSA WA members Richard Howell, Andrew Carpenter and Neil Dawes who all have played critical roles in Westag’s success so far. Westag continuing participation in research would not have been possible without the support of Dr Mike Mackie and Dr Jill St John of the Fisheries Department’s Research Division. Special thanks should also be extend to Garry and Carolyn Lilley who have been an integral part of the Westag’s communication network between recreational and commercial fishers and fisheries research scientists for the past 8 years. The efforts of both Allan Bevan and Wally Parkin are greatly appreciated for their outstanding assistance with both the reef fish and Samson Fish tagging projects. Finally I’d like to thank Bill Sawynok for his excellent support and ongoing advice. Andrew Rowland Westag Coordinator

7.7 Toptag

7.7.1 Toptag Highlights for 2004/05

One interesting tag return this year was a Barramundi tagged in April 2001 in the South Alligator River. This fish was recaptured twice within a 4 week period, on the same rock bar, in March and April of 2005. It had grown 180mm from 540mm to 720mm which is a slower growth than the average Barramundi. Another recapture was a Goldspotted Estuary Cod that was tagged and recaptured in Darwin Harbour. It was at large for 4 months and grew 20mm to 270mm and was recaptured on the same rock bar.

7.7.2 Toptag Fish Tagged and Recaptured

Last financial year was disappointing with only 67 fish tagged and 3 recaptures reported to the 1800 toll free hotline. Figure 22 shows the number of fish tagged each year since Toptag commenced in 1994/95.

7.7.3 Toptag Key Species Tagged

Last year our 21 members concentrated on tagging Spanish Mackerel however none were tagged. Mackerel are easily damaged and dangerous to handle, which deterred some members from tagging them and poor weather conditions prevailed on the 2 trips that were organised. Two Toptag boats fished the Genetag competition run by NT Fisheries in June 2005 and tagged 19 Spanish Mackerel, which showed that good results can be achieved when the weather allows offshore fishing. Nearly half the fish tagged for the year were Mackerel, but many more other species could have been tagged if our focus was not on Mackerel. No Toptag tagged Mackerel were reported as recaptured for the year.

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TOPTAG FISH TAGGED AND RECAPTURED

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Figure 22: Toptag fish tagged and recaptured

7.7.4 Toptag Special Projects

The Leeders Creek project is being reactivate this coming year, to provide a comparison with data collected from 1998/99 to 2001/02. Gas and hydrocarbon industries are planned for Glyde Point at the mouth of Leeders Creek and information is required as a baseline so that before and after comparisons can be made. In the initial Leeders Creek project 563 fish were tagged with 98 reported recaptures. The high recapture rate of 17% reflects the popularity of this fishing spot and the value of Leeders Creek to Darwin anglers.

7.7.5 Toptag Tagging Awards

To encourage members to target the priority species (all Mackerel, Black Jewfish, Golden Snapper and Giant Trevally) there will be prizes of camping equipment and gas cookers from the BBQ Place for the angler who records the most priority fish tagged. There will be much sought after prizes for everyone that tags over 100 fish in 2005/06 from our combines Priority and Opportunity species list.

7.7.6 Toptag in 2005/06

The Priority species list was changes at the last AGM to include all gamefish but excluding most sharks. Blacktip Shark will be the only shark included on the list reflecting the NT Fisheries interest in this species. David Woodburn Toptag Coordinator


7.8 AFANT Tag

7.8.1 Topend Research Effort

A highlight of AFANT’s tagging efforts this year has been the part played by members in the highly acclaimed Genetag Spanish mackerel research project. Genetag is an innovative research project being conducted by fisheries researchers from the NT Fisheries Group and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries with funding support from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. Recreational anglers have been enlisted to assist with tagging and collecting tissue samples for genetic fingerprinting and over 800 Spanish mackerel have been tagged, sampled and released over the past 17 months. This puts the amateur tagging element of Genetag ahead of target. Famed Aussie cricketer, Dennis Lillee, provided a well known face lifting public recognition for the tagging effort in June 2005. A total of 15 tagged Spanish mackerel have been recaptured. The Billy Taylor Barrawatch program continues its monitoring role in the Roper and Victoria Rivers and has now recorded over 4400 barramundi. In the first nine months of 2005, participating anglers caught 417 barramundi. 366 were released and of these 254 were tagged. The release rate was a high 87% and the tag rate was almost 70%. The total of fish released is now 3465 and the total of tagged fish is 1273 (figure 23). A total of 29 Billy Taylor tagged fish have been recaptured to date.

BILLY TAYLOR BARRA WATCH

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Figure 23: Barramundi statistics from Billy Taylor Barra Watch

Chris Makepeace AFANT Executive Director

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Figure 24: Cricket legend Dennis Lillee with a Spanish Mackerel caught during the latest Genetag Competition” Photo Courtesy of Michael Phelan

8. Catch and Effort

8.1 Catch and Release in NSW Things have been slow this year on the Catch and Release side of things, with the sheets still coming in, but not in the numbers of previous years. These results have allowed us to update or figures, and with the regulars still participating the figures are an accurate reflection of our catch rates as ANSA NSW members. Figure 25 shows the total percentage of fish kept over the last 9 years. The 2004-2005 season saw us keep 24% of our catch. We returned the rest for being undersized or unwanted. It is interesting to note that ANSA NSW members release on average 81% of their fish, whilst the national average is 44% and coupled with the released fish survival work we are participating in, the members of ANSA NSW should be applauded for the effort they are putting into sustainable fishing practices. The catch rate for ANSA NSW members is not available for 2004/05. Some improvement was recorded in 2003/04 in the catch rate with it requiring 0.63 hours of effort to catch a fish and 2.6 hours to catch a keeper. This is a significant improvement on the effort required in the previous year where it took 0.78 hours to catch a fish and 3.9 hours to catch a keeper. Stan Konstantaras Catch and Release Coordinator


FISH KEPT BY ANSA NSW MEMBERS

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Figure 25: Percentage of total catch kept by ANSA NSW members

8.2 Catch and Effort in Queensland From 1996/97 Suntag extended its data collection to obtain complete details of fishing trips undertaken by taggers. This provides us with catch and effort data for those participating.

PERCENTAGE OF FISH KEPT BY TAGGERS

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Figure 26: Percentage of fish kept by Suntag taggers A total of 9,959 trips have now been recorded for Suntag taggers providing trip details. The total time spent fishing is 95,063 hours for 93,328 fish caught or 0.98 fish per hour of effort. The average Suntag tagger trip is 5.6 hours in duration with 1.7 fishers taking part in each trip. On each trip there is an average of 9.4 fish caught of which 1.1 fish are kept. Figure 26 shows the percentage of fish kept by Suntag taggers each year. In 2004/05 the percentage of fish kept was 14.9% with 11.6% kept over all years.

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TIME TAKEN TO CATCH A FISH

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Figure 27: time taken to catch a fish

FISH CAUGHT ON BAIT OR LURE

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BaitLureOther

Figure 28: Comparison of fish caught on bait and lures for Suntag fishing trips

Data collected on Suntag fishing trips allows the time taken to catch a fish to be calculated. Figure 27 shows the time taken to catch a fish of any size by participating Suntag taggers each year while figure 28 shows the proportion of fish caught on bait and lures. The catch rate needs to be viewed in conjunction with the fishing method as catch rates are higher when using bait. There was a significant increase in the time taken to catch a fish from 1997/98 to 1998/99 as shown in figure 27. Figure 28 shows that in the first 2 years over 85% of fish were caught on bait while to 2003/04 bait caught fish have comprised between 53% and 68%. In 2004/05 77% of fish were caught on bait and this would account for the improved catch rate of 1 fish for 64 minutes fishing time.


The trend is a slow increase in the time taken to catch a fish and a 28% increase for the five years from 1999/00 to 2003/04. A comparison between 1997/98 and 2004/05, when the ratio of bait to lure caught fish was roughly the same, also shows a increase of 56% in the time taken to catch a fish. Effort is measured by the total time at or on the water, which includes travel time on the water and any time spent collecting bait or doing other things. This is considered to be the simplest means of collecting time and has proven to provide consistent data. This provides a lower catch rate than if fishing time only were used.

Bill Sawynok Suntag Coordinator

9. Released Fish Survival

The National Strategy for the Survival of Released Line Caught Fish is an initiative of the FRDC and is supported by ANSA and Recfish. The strategy aims to improve the understanding of and increase the survival rate of fish released by recreational fishers. The National Strategy was established in 2001/02 by the FRDC and there is now an investment of $6.5 million in 15 projects under the strategy. These projects include one to manage the strategy and promote the use of best practices in releasing fish. The strategy will continue through to July 2007.

A number of projects have now progressed to a stage where survival rates are known for a number of key species (figure 29).

SURVIVAL RATES

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Yellowfin Bream-NSW

Snapper-NSW

Snapper- Vic

Silver Trevally-NSW

Sand Whiting-NSW

Mulloway-NSW

Black Bream-Vic

Barramundi-NT

Sand Flathead - Tas

Dusky Flathead - Qld

Dusky Flathead - NSW

PERCENTAGE SURVIVAL

Figure 29: Survival rates for key Australian recreational fish species

A range of information products are now available and can be obtained from Infofish Services. These products are available to tackle stores, fishing clubs, Fishcare volunteers, community groups and anyone wanting to promote the healthy release of fish.

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Fact sheets and information from many of the research projects is also available from the website www.info-fish.net/releasefish.

The range of best practices products (figure 30 and 31) now include:

Gently Does It! Pamphlet on best practices in releasing fish DVD/video on best practices on releasing fish CD/DVD on releasing large Barramundi Posters promoting the results of Barramundi research Posters promoting fish friendly tackle Brochure on the Release Weight for releasing reef fish Information pamphlet for charter operators and fishing guides Gently Does it! T-shirts for fishers assisting in the research

Figure 30: Information products now available on releasing fish

http://www.info-fish.net/releasefish


Figure 31: Gently Does It! T-shirts are available to fishers contributing data that is used in assessing fish survival

Projects still in progress are:

FRDC project 2000/194 ‘Maximising survival of released undersized west coast reef fish’ Western Australian project July 2000-June 2005.

FRDC project 2003/019 ‘ National strategy for increasing the survival of released line-caught fish: tropical reef species’ Queensland project July 2003-June 2007.

FRDC project 2003/074 ‘Survival of snapper and bream released by recreational fishers in sheltered coastal temperate ecosystems’ Victorian project July 2003-June 2005.

FRDC project 2004/070 ‘National Strategy for the Survival or Released Line Caught Fish: planning, project management and communications Phase 2’ National project July 2004-June 2007.

FRDC project 2004/071 ‘National Strategy for the Survival of Released Line Caught Fish: maximising post-release survival of line caught flathead taken in sheltered coastal waters’ Tasmanian project July 2004-June 2006.

Using recreational anglers to estimate and maximise the survival of released line-caught fish’ NSW Fisheries project funded by NSW Recreational Trust December 2003 – August 2006.

‘Estimating and maximizing the post-release survival of key angler-caught fish in NSW’ NSW Fisheries project funded by NSW Recreational Trust March 2006 – February 2009.

Austag is playing a role in a number of these projects, especially in relation to obtaining data on locations where hooks are lodged in fish. The tagging data form was extended in 2003/04 to allow data t to be collected on hook location and gear used. Suntag, Newtag and Victag are all collected hooking location data for Flathead. Figure 32 shows the simple classification used for recording of hooking locations and the percentage of fish caught in each location using bait or lure. In Suntag a total of 8.3% of fish caught on bait are hooked in the throat or gut while 0.9% of fish caught on lures were hooked in the throat and 0% were gut hooked (figure 33).

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Figure 32: Recording of hook locations and where hooks are lodged in fish using bait and lure

HOOKING LOCATIONS n= 23,509

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Figure 33: Summary of hooking location recorded by Suntag

10. Research Support

10.1 Suntag Research Support As well as the projects already mentioned Suntag in Queensland provides support to a number of research projects. That support is generally in the form of collecting tag and recapture data, long term data storage, and in some projects assistance with the tagging.

In 2004/05 Suntag supported the following research and monitoring projects:

Support for research projects on tropical reef fish and Flathead survival being undertaken by CRC Reef and QDPI&F.

Collected fish and crab tag and recapture data for the Long Term Monitoring Program being undertaken by QDPI&F.


Collected crab tag and recapture data for a project in the Barron River by Holloways Beach Environment Education Centre.

Collected tag and recapture data and provided supplementary tagging of Bull Sharks in the Brisbane River for a CSIRO project.

Collected tag and recapture data on Stingrays tagged in Moreton Bay for a University of Queensland project.

Collected fish and crab tag and recapture data for a University of Queensland project looking at No Take Areas in Moreton Bay.

Worked in collaboration with Capricorn Sunfish on a project to monitor the use of wetlands by juvenile Barramundi in Central Queensland (see 7.1.7).

Collected tag and recapture data for Fish Stocking Groups that released large numbers of tagged Barramundi as part of their fish stocking programs.

Suntag will collect tagging and catch and effort data for CapReef, a community based monitoring program that will be undertaken in Central Queensland.

In 2004/05 there were four scientific publications that were published or have been submitted for publication that used data from Suntag. These were: Growth rate and mortality of Australian bass, Macquaria novemaculeata, in four freshwater impoundments in south-eastern Queensland, Australia: GR Wilde and W Sawynok: Journal of Fisheries Management and Ecology (2005): 12: 1-7. Movement and juvenile recruitment of mangrove jack, Lutjanus argetnimaculatus (Forsskal), in northern Australia: DJ Russell and AJ McDougall: Marine and Freshwater Research (2005): 56: 465-475. Variable growth rates of a tropical estuarine fish species (barramundi, Lates calcarifer Bloch) under different freshwater flow conditions: J Robins, D Mayer, J Staunton-Smith, I Halliday, B Sawynok and M Sellin: Submitted to Journal of Fish Biology June 2005. Effects of marine reserve protection on the mud crab Scylla serrata in a sex-based fishery in subtropical Australia: S Pillans et al: Marine Ecology Progress 295L 201:203: 2005.

10.2 Westag Reef Fish Research Support Maximising survival of released undersize west coast reef fish (FRDC Project 2000/194)

Since tagging (using the research database) began in December 2000, a total of 2,138 temperate demersal (bottom living) reef species have been tagged and 150 have been recaptured (tables 6 and 7). Tagged fish include 926 WA Dhufish, 836 Pink Snapper, 305 Breaksea Cod and 71 Baldchin Groper (table 6).

Method of Release Species No

information Simple Vented Shotline Vented &

Shotline Total

WA Dhufish 19 366 199 318 22 926 Pink Snapper 15 694 89 37 1 836* Breaksea cod 5 114 61 123 2 305 Baldchin groper 0 20 18 33 0 71 Overall total 39 1194 367 511 25 2138

Table 6: Number of tagged fish entered into the ANSA-WA database up to June 2005 by method of release. * 85 Pink Snapper were tagged by Department of Fisheries in Shark Bay

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Method of Release Species No

information Simple Vented Shotline Total

WA Dhufish 2 23 5 32 62 Pink Snapper 2 65 9 4 80 Breaksea cod 0 4 0 4 8 Baldchin groper 0 0 0 0 0 Overall total 4 92 14 40 150

Table 7: Number of recaptured fish recorded up to June 2005 by method of release. Total recaptures includes fish recaptured when release method was unknown

At more than 60 recaptures for each species, both Dhufish and Pink Snapper are approaching the target tag number of 30 recaptures per method (or 90 recaptures in total) and thus provide the most reliable results so far (table 7). These preliminary recapture rates suggest that average survival rates differ among demersal species (table 8). The current zero recapture rate for Baldchin Groper suggests that survival is low because if the lowest average recapture rates of the other demersal species is used at least one recapture can be expected for the number of Baldchin tagged. Reasons for the low recapture rate include low rates of survival caused by their high susceptibility to barotrauma or damage during capture (Baldchin teeth damage their innards if they are everted from the mouth during capture) and the broad movement of this species can further reduce recapture rates. The other three species are considered to have relatively high site fidelity.

Within species (excluding Baldchin Groper) recaptures rates of the three release methods range from 1.4% for Pink Snapper to 7.5% for Dhufish. Release by shotline (figures 34 and 35) appears to be best release method for increasing survival of Dhufish whereas venting has the lowest recapture rate (table 8). In Breaksea Cod shotline and simple release have similar recapture rates and better than venting. In Pink Snapper, however, recapture rates are similar for all three release methods even though they are reportedly difficult to attach to a shotline because they are very active in the boat. The high recapture rate of Snapper that were vented is due to the research tagging in Shark Bay at relatively shallow depths where approximately half of the released fish were vented (figure 36). At 9.5% for all methods combined, rates of Pink Snapper recaptures (table 8) are similar to snapper tagged in Shark Bay (10.3%, St John et al 2002) and higher than recapture rates of snapper tagged in Victoria (2.1%, St John et al 2002).

Figure 34: A small West Australian Dhufish being returned to the bottom with a release weight (shotline)

(Garry Lilley photograph)


Method of Release

Species Simple Vented Shotline Total WA Dhufish 6.3 2.5 10.0 6.6 Pink Snapper 9.4 10.1 10.8 9.5 Breaksea cod 3.5 0 3.2 2.4 Baldchin groper 0 0 0 0 Grand total 7.7 3.8 7.8 7.0

Table 8: Preliminary results of percentage recapture rates of the four demersal species that have been tagged over the last 4.5 years

Figure 35: A tagged undersize Dhufish with released weight attached ready for release

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Recapture rates of four demersal species

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Figure 36: Recapture rates of the three methods, simple, vented and shotline for three species Dhufish, Pink Snapper and Breaksea Cod

Recapture rates of Dhufish fall dramatically from a high of up to 18% in shallow waters less than 30m to less than 2% at 60-69m (figure 37). Compared to Dhufish, the decreasing trend in recapture rates with depth was not so evident in Pink Snapper (figure 38). Charter boats tagged over 50 snapper at 80-90m and 100-110m, providing information of recapture rates at depths greater than recreational anglers usually fish (figure 38). The high recapture rate at 80-90m is possibly due to charter boats regularly fishing the same schools. Recapture rates of Pink Snapper tagged on charter boats dropped to 4% at over 100m (figure 38). Differences in behavior between the two species indicate that results of the tagging study need to be interpreted differently for each species.


Depths at which Dhufish have been Tagged and Recaptured

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Figure 37: Number of Dhufish tagged and recaptured since 1996 by depth. The % of Dhufish recaptured by depth for all types of fisher was calculated when more than 50 Dhufish have been tagged

Depths at which Pink Snapper have been Tagged and Recaptured

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Figure 38: Number of snapper tagged and recaptured since 1996 by depth. The % of snapper recaptured

by depth for all types of fisher was calculated when more than 50 snapper have been tagged

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10.3 Samson Science A component of Management and monitoring of fish spawning aggregations within the West Coast Bio-region of Western Australia (FRDC Project 2004/051) This collaborative research project commenced in July 2004 and is focused on the lucrative catch and release sportfishery that targets large, deep-water spawning aggregations of Samson Fish that form near Perth during summer. It involves the use of high-tech underwater video and hydro-acoustic equipment (recording fish noises and get estimates of school size) as well as more traditional tag-recapture methods to study fish spawning aggregations. This study has also been designed to enable the influence of release, handling and retrieval methods to be quantified to determine fishing mortality, which will lead to the development of protocols for future fishing practices to maximise the survival of released fish. The initial objectives of the Samson Fish project were: 1) Tag 3000 fish in 3 weeks (January 2005):

• To estimate fish numbers • To determine movement patterns • To assess effects of fishing • To develop protocols for handling fish

2) Study the biology and ecology of Samson fish 3) Assess Hydro-acoustic and video techniques to describe the Samson Fish aggregations

(number and size of fish, aggregation dimensions) 4) Finally, to compare these methods (i.e. tagging, hydro-acoustic and video) to determine best techniques for studying fish aggregations that can be applied to other species in other areas.

Figure 39: Samson Fish tagging sites west of Rottnest Island


Project Summary and Results to date Despite tough conditions encountered during the summer the tagging component was a huge success in the level of community participation:

270 + fishers 86 taggers 38 boats Responsible attitude of fishers High quality of data Many participants genuinely interested in helping preserve fish stocks Regarded as a model for future collaborative research

The result was a total of 2,486 Samson Fish tagged over 27 days (figure 40).

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with max windspeed

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Figure 41: Recaptures of Samson Fish tagged west of Rottnest Island in Jan/Feb 2005 includes days at

liberty for most fish

In summary the project has resulted in:

• Estimates of fish numbers by tag-recapture not possible as fish were leaving the study area before tagging was concluded.

• Samson Fish migrate large distances (900 km in 25 days) (figure 41). • Samson Fish move between different spawning aggregations west of Rottnest Island

and were not staying in the aggregations for long. • Samson Fish sustain barotrauma related injuries but appear healthy and swim away

strongly when released. • Handling protocols will be developed through gaining longer term recaptures, video

observations of released fish and ongoing discussions with fishers. • Scientifically rigorous research collaborations possible!


Figure 42: Recreational fishing boats taking part in Samson Fish tagging during a fine day in January 2005

Andrew Rowland Westag Coordinator

10.4 Support for Flathead Survival Research

National strategy for the survival of released line caught fish: maximising post-release survival in line caught flathead taken in sheltered coastal waters: FRDC Project 2004/071 Progress report to Released Fish Survival National Strategy Steering Committee Meeting 12 - 10 August 2005, Hobart

Project objectives

1. Estimate post-release survival (PRS) rates for key flathead species associated with

current hook and line fishing practices. 2. Evaluate the suitability of circle and non-traditional hooks in terms of enhancing PRS

and minimising hooking damage. 3. Based on objectives 1 and 2 develop protocols that can be readily applied to maximize

PRS in flathead.

Project overview

This is a collaborative project between the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and ANSA. There are three main components:

(i) Volunteer anglers reporting information about gear used (hook type, lure, soft plastics etc) and hooking location and general condition of fish captured;

(ii) Field-based fishing trials involving differing hook types to assess catch rates, size selectivity and hooking location/damage; and

(iii) Field-based experiments to estimate PRS of flathead captured by hook fishing, correlated with hooking location/damage and fish size. Sand flathead (Platycephalus bassensis) are the focus the Tasmanian component and Dusky Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) are the target species in Queensland.

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Overall progress

In relation to estimating potential PRS rates associated with existing fishing practices we have established a network of anglers in Tasmania, Queensland and NSW who are providing details about hooking location and damage to flathead. This information will provide the basis for establishing the rates of high risk (to survival) hooking damage, which will then be related to hook/gear types. We have also completed three PRS experiments and a fishing trial comparing different hook types in Tasmania. A second fishing trial is scheduled for later in the year (note, one trial has had to be cancelled due to weather).

Volunteer fisher data

Tasmania To date we have received information for over 600 hook caught sand flathead in Tasmania, the overall deep hooking rate (throat/gill and gut) for bait fishing is about 4%, this rate varying with hook type, from less than 1% for circle hooks to about 8% for suicide hooks (figure 43).

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Figure 43: Deep hooking rates reported by Tasmanian volunteer anglers by hook type. Numbers are sample sizes

NSW and SUNTAG Hooking information for dusky flathead are available for almost 480 fish from NSW fishers (NEWTAG) and 1600 fish from the SUNTAG database. Deep hooking rates for bait fishing for NSW are similar to Tasmania (less than 10%) whereas over 40% of bait caught fish recorded on the SUNTAG database were deep hooked (figure 44). The reason for such a high incidence of deep hooking is unknown, however, the SUNTAG data relate to tagged fish and may not be representative of the condition of the entire catch (it is surprising though that such a high proportion of deep hooked fish were tagged). Deep hooking rates for lures (soft and hard body) are below 10% for both datasets.


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Figure 44: Deep hooking rates for dusky flathead by method based on SUNTAG data and NSW volunteer

anglers. Numbers are sample sizes.

Relationship between deep hooking and fish size Deep hooking rates (regardless of hook type) in both species of flathead tend to be low (mostly between about 4-8%) in fish less than about 45cm (figure 45). For larger individuals (dusky flathead) deep hooking rates more than doubled and in both the NSW and SUNTAG data exceeded 20% in some size categories. This aspect will be explored further.

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Tasmanian Fishing Trial

A fishing trial involving volunteer anglers was conducted in January with the intention of assessing the relative performance (catch rates) of traditional (J) and non-traditional (circle and wide gape) hooks for flathead and assessing levels of high risk hooking damage (deep hooking) associated with hook type. A total of seven boats and 20 fishers participated in the trial. Fishing was conducted over a 2.5 hour period with fishers randomly allocated one of three hook types within each boat. Bait and rig was standardised for the trial. Highest catch rates (figure 46A) and lowest levels of deep hooking were achieved using circle hooks (figure 46B). The results of the trial have generated considerable interest in the

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feasibility of circle hooks as an alternative to standard J and suicide hooks that are commonly used by anglers in Tasmania.

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Figure 46: A) Catch rate per hour of sand flathead by hook type (± SE); and B) deep hooking rates by hook type. Numbers are sample sizes.

Tasmanian PRS experiments

Two PRS experiments were conducted during summer (av. water temperature 16.8oC) and a third in winter (av. water temperature 11.4oC). Each of the experiments involved capturing flathead on hook and line, noting the hooking location and damage, and monitoring the fish over a period of several days in order to assess survival rates. Fish were captured in the wild and transported to aquaria where they were held (unfed) for at least 4 days to assess short-term survival. In the second experiment, fish also were held for a further three weeks (and fed after the initial holding period on salmon pellets) to establish whether there was any evidence of delayed mortality. Trials indicated that deep hooking (gills and gut) resulted in significantly reduced survival rates (around 65%) as compared with shallow hooked fish (effectively 100% survival) (figure 47). Beach seine caught flathead were used as “controls”, but being subjected to over 10% mortality rate, significantly higher than for shallow hooked fish, suggests that they are not controls in the strictest sense. Interestingly, the extended holding period in second trial did not result in any additional mortalities and there was good evidence for wound healing in all fish.

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Figure 47: Survival rates over 4 days post-capture and based on hooking location for sand flathead - numbers represent sample size for each treatment


The presence of bleeding in deep hooked appeared a significant factor in relation to survival rates. Fish with no obvious evidence of bleeding from the hook wound site had high rates of survival (90-100%) whereas only about 50% of fish with bleeding survived the initial holding period (Fig. 6)

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Figure 48: Survival rates over 4 days for deep hooked flathead based whether or not hooking injury

involved obvious bleeding - numbers represent sample size for each treatment

Of particular interest in the PRS experiments was the observation out of 10 deep fish in which hooks were left embedded in the throat or gut, five had actually thrown the hooks (one was found to have the hook free within the stomach) within the experimental period. These observations provide strong circumstantial support for the practice of cutting the line for deep hooked fish. Jeremy Lyle (Principal Investigator) University of Tasmania Ian Brown (Co-investigator) Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Qld

11. Historical Tagging Data

Over the past few years Suntag has also been tracking down old tagging datasets to include in the Suntag database. Tagging datasets, like many other datasets, tend to get lost over time as researchers finish using the data and move on in their careers. While the results of the research are generally available through published report there is often a need to reanalyze the original data. Suntag offers a service of incorporating old datasets into the Suntag database to provide access to complete tagging records.

In 2003/04 as part of the stock assessment of Tailor old tag datasets were captured and incorporated into the Suntag database. This included tagging records from the late 1980’s and also data from the 1970’s. Data was uploaded to the Suntag database in 2004/05 and will be finalised once the new database has been completed. This will provide a sinlge tagging dataset for tailor that can be interrogated.

Some progress was made in 2004/05 in obtaining an old dataset on Coral Trout tagged in the GBRMP and it is expected that this data will be included in the Suntag database in 2005/06.

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12. Where to in 2005/06?

The next year is likely to see considerable advance in recreational fishers involvement in research with a number of initiatives underway.

The FRDC is looking to improve how it deals with recreational fishing research and an interim Recfishing Services Steering Committee has been set up to develop this approach. The steering committee is an expansion of the Released Fish Survival Steering Committee. The Steering Committee has identified a range of national research priorities and it is likely there will be projects developed to address these priorities.

Austag, through its State Tagging Program, continues to play a growing role in the collection of data on key recreational fish species, not just tagging data. It is expected that role will continue and expand in 2005/06 and that this program will become an important component of the FRDC initiative.

Support for research projects will continue in such projects as Samson Science. Collection of hooking location data will continue to aid projects on fish survival. To assist and encourage participation in collecting hooking data the National Strategy project is offering a free ‘Gently Does It!’ t-shirt (figure 32) to all ANSA members that provide 100 records of hooking locations in fish and to those that have provided a significant contribution to this work.

Funding for the upgrade of the Infotag database has been provided through the CapReef project. The new database will be known as Infofish 2006 and will be web based to allow considerable improvement in data management and access to data. This is expected to be completed early in 2006. This will require a major upgrade to the Austag Manual.

The Infofish-ANSA website is continually being upgraded to provide a better service to members and other users of the data, improved access to the Austag Manual and to reports resulting from various projects being undertaken.

This may all lead to a further upgrade of the Austag Research Report to provide information on a broader range of recreational fishing research projects.

austag research report 2004/05 - infofish...

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