NSW DPI

A further experiment and update on the mulloway work will be in Fisho this year. Results are clearly straight cut but you always need that field component to your experiments. RE: in a tournament fish are picked up by a marshal boat and taken straight to the sea cages and yes there is a component of travel time. All other factors as you said such as play length, exposure to air, bleeding, scale loss, hooking location, line strength, bait type or being netted are all taken into consideration. cheers

Thanks Ken I am with the NSW DPI Fisheries Conservation Technoolgy Unit. We are looking at the post release survival of fish in NSW. The project has been going for two years now and has just been extended for another three. Your site gives us direct access to anglers and feedback. I love angling and when im not at work its the one passion i love. I look forward to talking to everyone here. cheers

Guys Cant say i was around when that happened with the BB research but in their defence, the data was thrown out due to the stressful affects of this un-natural flooring. Blood cortisol concentrations indicated high stress levels across all hooked and control flathead due to this. However, a flathead event using natural floors for them to lay on will be held in 2006. I will keep you posted.

GO FISHING IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE The Fisheries Conservation Technology Unit of the NSW Department of Primary Industries is looking for anglers in NSW to trial different hook designs to target yellowfin bream and mulloway. This study is part of a two-year research project to estimate and maximize the survival of key fish released from capture by recreational anglers throughout NSW. Participating anglers will be given specific designs of hooks and asked to complete data sheets for all of the bream and mulloway they catch. The collected data will be used to determine the extent to which different hook types influence anatomical hook location and their catching efficiency. If you are interested in volunteering your time to help with this important research, please contact: Dr. Paul Butcher, NSW DPI on (02) 66483910 or email Paul.Butcher@fisheries.nsw.gov.au

Mulloway research angling tournament (location wanted). The Fisheries Conservation Technology Unit of the NSW Department of Primary Industries is looking for an appropriate river or estuary to undertake an experiment to assess the post-release survival of angler-caught mulloway. We would like to do this work over a weekend, sometime between September and December 2005, and involve as many recreational anglers as possible. The experiment will be run similar to a typical tournament, but with anglers asked to catch and release between 50 and 200 mulloway into anchored sea cages, over a period of two days. These fish will then be monitored for any mortalities over 5 days. If you or your fishing club can provide a location and time to hold such an event please contact: Dr. Paul Butcher, NSW DPI on (02) 66483910 or Paul.Butcher@fisheries.nsw.gov.au