TagTimes

March 2015

Welcome to the latest edition of Tag Times

This newsletter has the latest information on interesting recapture movements of tagged fish. If you don't want to receive this information please click unsubscribe at the bottom of the email.

Black Marlin Head South

The warm east Australian current has led to consistent catches of billfish throughout NSW over the summer months, a number of these having been recently tagged in QLD. Two notable recaptures are reported below.
 
A Black Marlin released on the 29th of December 2014 off Southport, South QLD by Gold Coast GFC vessel Sure Power has been recaptured 5 days later on the 3rd of January 2015 by Newcastle GFC vessel Juicy II fishing approximately 6 miles east of Grassy Head on the mid north coast of NSW. Over the course of 5 days the fish travelled a straight line distance of 174 nautical miles south west, there was little difference in estimated weight with both anglers calling it approximately 40kgs. The fish was in good condition and re-released well with original tag in place.
 
A small Black Marlin released on the 26th of August 2014 by Newcastle & Port Stephens GFC vessel Megabite II off Cape Bowling Green, North QLD, has been recaptured on the 25th of January 2015 off Broken Bay, NSW fishing aboard the vessel Breeze. The fish was originally estimated at 15kg and was recaptured at approximately 22kg.

The fish was caught recaptured in 80 metres of water on anchor whilst fishing for Snapper. The fish made a straight line swim of approximately 863 nautical miles in its 152 days at liberty. This is the 10th fish released off Cape Bowling Green to be recaptured in NSW under the program.
 

Lengthy Kingfish Swim

A Yellowtail Kingfish released off Port Augusta, South Australia, on the 21st October 2013 by Adelaide Game Fishing Club vessel Like a Boss has been re-captured and re-released approximately 387 days later off Coffs Harbour, NSW by the vessel Sticky Beak. The fish swam approximately 2700km/1450nm (806nm NE straight line) around the east coast and grew from 114 cm to approximately 120 cm during this time. This is the sixth South Australian kingfish to be recaptured in NSW waters and the furthest north along the NSW coastline one has swum from South Australia reported under the program. This lucky fish was released to fight another day and potentially be recaptured again!




 

Land Based Spanish

A Spanish Mackerel recaptured on the 21st of January 2015 has brought the total to 80 recaptures for the species. The fish was originally released off Dampier, WA by King Bay GFC boat, Black Label, on the 31st of July 2011. The mackerel was recaptured by keen land based anglers casting the rock ledges of Steep Point, WA. The fish was part of 5 way hook-up resulting in two fish being landed.

Having travelled a straight line distance of approximately 395 nautical miles south-southeast, the fish spent a total time at liberty of 1270 days which is the fifth longest time-out for mackeral tagged under the program.

The record time at liberty is held by a tagged Spanish Mackerel that was tagged off Mackay, QLD and recaptured 203 nautical miles west-north west off Rib Reef, recording a total of 1,945 days (5 years and 120 days) at liberty.
 

Dolphin Fish races north

A small Dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi) of approximately 3kg released aboard Sydney GFC boat Malolo on the 5th of April 2014 whilst fishing the Sydney Harbour FAD was recaptured 25 days later by anglers aboard the boat Hoodlum whilst fishing off Hat Head on the mid-north coast of NSW. This small fish travelled a straight line distance of 184 nautical miles north-northeast.

This particular fish was recaptured approximately 100m off the rocks on live bait, marking the closest dolphinfish recapture to the NSW coastline recorded under the program.

 

Tiger shark recapture

Botany Bay Game Fishing Club boat Reel Game tagged and released an estimated 70kg tiger shark fishing the Botany Bay shelf in March 2013. Upon closer inspection the fish had two distinct circular holes at the top of its dorsal fin – consistent with drill holes for the attachment of a SPOT satellite tag.

DPI contacted Bonnie Holmes of the University of Queensland who was able to positively identify the tiger shark from the photos provided by the angler. The female fish, named Shania, was satellite tagged by Bonnie on board El Bandito on 27th April 2012 out of Port Hacking. The fish was part of an east coast tiger shark research project and was recorded at 2.1 metres total length on first release.

From satellite transmissions, Shania was found to travel south at first and then worked her way north up to Fraser Island before heading south again. Her last transmission was on 13th August 2012 off the Sunshine Coast in Queensland after 104 days at liberty. Following this last recording we know that Shania worked her way back down south to be tagged by the Reel Game crew approximately 223 days later at a location (off Sydney) close to where she was originally tagged almost a year before. Shania’s movements are consistent with the other NSW tagged tiger sharks, which have seasonally moved back down to NSW following the warm East Australian Current in the summer months.
This encounter highlights the importance of recording anything unusual on your tag card. In this case, a simple diagram drawn on the back of the card led to us tracking down a remarkable recapture story!

 

Check out the key species tagged and top taggers from last season.
 

Don't forget to return your tag cards

This is a great time to remind everyone to return their tag cards to their local gamefishing club or back to the tagging program. We are still awaiting the original release information for many species from past seasons. Please have a look around and send back your completed cards, even if they are several years old as they may still match up with recaptured fish that we have on the database. Also, please keep us updated with fish that you saw were tagged but were unable to retrieve the tag from. It is still useful to log this information so that we can get a better overall estimate on the number of recaptures that are taking place.