Fishers prefer they get away

Almost 90 per cent of fishers at least occasionally release their catch, while 50 per cent do it regularly.
Compiled for Infofish Services, the survey of more than 2,400 fishers found the days of huge bags of catches are on the way out.

Infofish manager Bill Sawynok said there had been a seachange in recent years in the attitude of fishers towards catch-and-release.

He said among competition fishers, fish were released in 90 per cent of cases.
People were more aware of the need to restrict the number of fish taken, while an increase in statutory bag and size limits also meant there was legal pressure on fishers to restrict their catch.

"Over the last five years there's been a very big change in the amount of fish that are released after catch," Mr Sawynok told AAP.

"But I think we haven't seen the end of it either, with more and more fishers releasing their catch because people see the benefits of it."

The survey found 95 per cent of fishers believed that by releasing their catch they were benefiting the entire fish stock.

Ninety per cent said they did not need to keep all the fish they caught to have a successful fishing trip, while 60 per cent said that they did not have to prove their skills by bringing their catch home.
Just 12 per cent of those surveyed only fished freshwater, while 64 per cent focused solely on saltwater.
Freshwater fishers, who generally fish in dams and lakes which rely on fish stocking, were marginally more likely to release their catch.

Bream, flathead, whiting, snapper and tailor were the most popularly targeted saltwater fish varieties, while golden perch, carp, trout, and Murray cod were the most commonly caught freshwater varieties.

Despite wanting to improve the chances of a released fish surviving, just five per cent of fishers said they used barbless hooks.

Mr Sawynok said the survey found fishers were prepared to change their fishing gear if it increased the survival chances of released fish.

Source: http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/

Fish kill cause still unknown

About 400,000 small threadfin leatherjackets died in two recent fish kills at Fraser Island, the first resulting in fish washing up along the entire east coast of the island and the second, mainly centring around the north-east beaches.

Department of Primary Industries Queensland Fisheries Service (QFS) principal scientist John Beumer said laboratory results did not support either biotoxins or a virus as the cause.

“Initially we thought it could be biotoxins in the inshore environment. Toxic algae produce biotoxins which may lead to fish being poisoned,” he said.

“However, the tests have ruled out both of these possibilities and at this stage it seems unlikely we will find out the cause.”

Dr Beumer said human activity had also been ruled out as only a single species of fish was affected.

“Fish kills caused by poor water quality, pesticide run off and similar activities are generally characterised by a wide range of species being affected,” he said.

Dr Beumer said leatherjackets were also involved in another major fish kill on Fraser Island in 1998.

He said there was also no specific cause identified as being responsible for that incident.

Dr Beumer said a species related to the leatherjacket from the inshore waters of Hawaii was also known to have regular large-scale fish kills.

“The cause behind these fish kills has been identified as a lack of available food following large numbers of fish migrating inshore over a short period of time,” he said.

“In open water situations such as off the ocean beach at Fraser Island, the cause of fish kills often remains a mystery but we are still waiting some final test results to see if they shed any further light on the matter.”

Source: http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au