A yellowtail kingfish tagged by popular Sydney charterboat OceanHunter Sportsfishing on November 7, 2014, has been recaptured approximately 323 nautical miles from its original release location off Sydney. The fish travelled way up north east of the Ballina Bar, northern NSW.
The kingy, originally released on the 12 Mile Reef in 120 metres east of Sydney, swam in a north-north easterly direction during its 109 days at liberty and grew from a total length of 73cm to approximately 87cm and 5kg.
This is in contrast to a kingfish released off Port Hacking, Sydney, on the November 28, 2014, which almost made its way to the Victorian border having been caught off Eden, southern NSW during early July 2015.
The south migrating fish, which was originally measured at 63cm fork length, grew to approximately 76cm total length and 4.2kg throughout its 215 days at liberty. The kingfish was caught while jigging a school of fish and travelled a straight line distance of approximately 190 nautical miles.
More info on the NSW DPI Game Fish Tagging Program: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/saltwater/gamefish-tagging.