Mangrove jack breeding breakthrough!

Southern Cross University’s National Marine Science Centre in Coffs Harbour, NSW, has successfully bred Mangrove jack in captivity for the first time in NSW.

This is a remarkable achievement and advancement in the delicate science of breeding fish, and was made possible by funding from the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust.

Hatchery production of Mangrove jack is extremely difficult and an achievement only matched by a very small handful of other hatcheries Australia-wide.

"Mangrove jack is an excellent sport and food fish and the latest breeding success will also have wider implications for the aquaculture industry,"  NSW Fisheries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson added with her primary-producer hat on.

Funded to the tune of $130K by our recreational-fishing licences, the breeding program, led by Dr Ken Cowden, has successfully hatched more than 4000 fingerlings, which are now 10 weeks-old and 50mm in length.

Mangrove jack have a unique lifecycle which involves spawning in seawater at offshore reefs, and later migrating into the estuaries and even right up into the freshwater.

"The Mangrove jack life cycle involves movement between fresh and saltwater and makes the species vulnerable to impacts from the construction of dam walls and weirs which can prevent access to the freshwater habitat," Dr Cowden said.

"Therefore, breeding for freshwater impoundment stocking is a great breakthrough," Dr Cowden adds.

The eggs are only 0.8mm in diameter, and the newly hatched larvae just over 2mm, making the species a great challenge for hatcheries to produce.

“It is because of this difficulty that the recent success at the National Marine Science centre is so significant,” he said.

Southern Cross University, in conjunction with the Department of Primary Industries, hopes to stock the fish into Clarrie Hall Dam, a freshwater location in the Tweed Shire of northern NSW, in coming weeks.

The projects to source brood stock and then breed the mangrove jack were funded by two NSW Recreational Fishing Trust grants worth a total of $130,000.

Visit The NSW mangrove jack breeding and stocking project on Facebook for more information about the project.

In NSW, the recreational fishing industry generates about $1.6 billion into the state economy each year and creates about 14,000 jobs. Video of the jacks in captivity below.

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