NSW fish tagging highlights from 2017

NSW DPI recently issued its last Tag Times newsletter for 2017 thanking all those involved in the NSW DPI Game Fish Tagging program, while wishing for a great 17/18 game-fishing season. There were some amazing recaptures and achievements through the year.

The top taggers of the program for the 16/17 season have been published and can be accessed in this NSW Game Fish Tagging Program webpage.

The top 10 most common fish tagged were 1835 black marlin, 1126 Southern bluefin tuna, 820 striped marlin, 777 blue marlin, 559 kingfish, 527 sailfish, 341 dolphin fish, 265 albacore, 222 mako shark, and 214 Samson fish.

Proving that tagged fish do indeed survive, Adelaide Game Fishing Club president Paul Williams recaptured a large bronze whaler shark fishing off Kangaroo Island for the third time.

Williams originally caught the shark in November 2012 while chasing sharks off American River, Kangaroo Island. Then 772 days later on December 30, 2014, he recaptured the whaler in the same location. He satellite tagged the fish during his second encounter before letting it go in excellent condition.

An additional 1054 days later on December 18, 2017, Williams recaptured the whaler for the third time and after a few photos re-released it to potentially be caught again!

There have been some extraordinary kingfish recaptures this year as we reported on in this article headlined

Now are a few more kingfish recaptures of note. A yellowtail kingfish released by Ben Kiggins fishing aboard More Chilli off Kurnell, Sydney, in December, 2016, has been recaptured by Stuart Reid from Raptor Charters while fishing off North Head on December 19, 2017. Reid noticed a tag in the fish. In 360 days, swimming 12 nautical miles north, the fish had grown a huge 30cm — from 68cm to 98cm.

Even more remarkable is the news that another yellowtail kingfish originally tagged in South Australia has been caught in NSW, this time off Forster, by Eli Eastley. The keen spearfisher caught the 23kg kingfish (opening photo) on November 26, 2017, and noticed the yellow DPI tag once the fish was subdued.

A quick search in the NSW DPI Game Fish Tagging database revealed that the kingie was originally released just over a year earlier (371 days) in the Outlet Channel of Port Augusta, SA.

The kingfish was released by Todd Marshall fishing aboard Silver Lining. Todd quickly measured the fish at 136cm and sling weighed it at 19.3kg before letting it go in. During its time at liberty the kingfish swam a whopping 747 nautical miles straight line distance from where it was released.

This is the fifth kingfish originally released in South Australia that has been recaptured in NSW.

If you do happen to catch a tagged fish be sure to report it either over the phone on (02) 44247423 or online by using the online recapture form.