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NEWS
Monitoring our mighty tailor
Queensland Fisheries measures 2,000-plus fishFisheries Queensland has been busy on Fraser Island collecting scientific data on tailor and other beach-caught species including whiting, flathead and even Spanish mackerel, the department says.
Large numbers of recreational fishers assisted in the monitoring exercise by allowing staff to measure their fish or by donating their fish frames for research.
Over 2,000 tailor were measured from along the ocean beaches during the surveys.
Scientists have established that the tailor spawn en masse off southeastern Fraser Island in spring.
For this reason, an area of Fraser Island from Indian Head to Waddy Point is closed to fishing from August 1 to September 30 each year. Elsewhere on the island, a bag limit of 20 fish above the 35cm length applies.
A mobile field laboratory was set up on Fraser to facilitate processing of the fish frames soon after they were caught. Over 250 pairs of otoliths (ear bones, which are used to age fish) were extracted from a sub-sample of the donated fish.
These surveys enable the collection of valuable length and age data on the tailor being caught by recreational fishers from this popular shore-based fishing location.
The data collected from these surveys will be combined with other information collected during 2012 to help determine the current status of tailor stock and the sustainability of the tailor fishery in Queensland.
The final survey at Fraser Island for the season will conclude tomorrow (October 5).
In recent years, tailor numbers do seem to have dwindled and the big schools you used to see in places like Sydney Harbour in early summer are a thing of the past. That said, plenty of little “choppers” remain. The Australian record for a tailor is 12.1kg.
Of course, the fish is named after its fierce set of fangs which, like a tailor wielding a pair of sharp scissors, make light work of its prey. One of our great sporting fish and good tucker when fresh.
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Written byBoatsales Staff
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