mulcahya Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) G'Day, Newbie here. Just getting into cruising around Sydney's waterways (the Harbour, Botany Bay, Georges River, Port Hacking) with the boat I just bought, and wetting a line with the family. Trouble is, from what I'm hearing from this forum, it may not be wise to be keeping even the legal fish that I catch. Is there any official recommendation on which fish are ok to keep (from a low/no dioxins point of view) that are in and around Sydney's waterways. It would be ashame to throw all those nice Bream, Whiting, and Flatties that I catch back, but it would also be stupid to eat them if they're full of pollutants. Any guidance there? Baffler Edited July 23, 2011 by Baffler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc123 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 In the Harbour most go by if it is caught east of the bridge then it should be okay. I think most of botany and Port Hacking is okay too. Georges is a bit doubtful. I dont fish it much and dont keep fish from there but other raiders might be able to tell you otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAfisho Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) It'd be clean enough to eat whatever in Port Hacking, Botany Bay, Lower Georges River (up to about the Captain Cook Bridge), Pittwater and the Hawkesbury. It'd be a bit sketchy, and I would avoid fish that don't move around that much like bream, flathead, whiting etc in the upper Georges River and in the main part of Sydney Harbour (between the bridge and the heads). More pelagic fish like Kingfish, Bonito and Salmon would be fine, though. For me it's strictly catch and release in and around the Parramatta River and the Cooks River, particularly with fish like bream and estuarine species that spend their whole lives consuming dioxins, and passing those dioxins down to the next generation. In the Cooks there was a botulism outbreak (not a dioxin, but still very nasty stuff) a few years ago, you do NOT want that in your body. Check the fisheries website for more info on Sydney Harbour, and if your keen there's heaps of info about the water quality of all of Sydney's waterways lying around the web. Google it. Edited July 23, 2011 by SAfisho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzpollen Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Have a look here http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/info/sydney-closure I can see bream being high in dioxins, but tailor as well? Kind of weird. Oh well, tailor tastes crap anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongrass18ft Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 G'Day, Newbie here. Just getting into cruising around Sydney's waterways (the Harbour, Botany Bay, Georges River, Port Hacking) with the boat I just bought, and wetting a line with the family. Trouble is, from what I'm hearing from this forum, it may not be wise to be keeping even the legal fish that I catch. Is there any official recommendation on which fish are ok to keep (from a low/no dioxins point of view) that are in and around Sydney's waterways. It would be ashame to throw all those nice Bream, Whiting, and Flatties that I catch back, but it would also be stupid to eat them if they're full of pollutants. Any guidance there? Baffler The larger the fish the more chances of possible dioxins , port hacking is my choice of esturies for a fish due to the fact it is the least polluted system.Mate if in doubt for some reason the fish may have red spots , or it doesn,t look quite right just do catch and release. chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginko Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Tailor may be suseptable due to their nurseries being far upstream. I never fish the harbour or parramatta river, but I have caught loads of 15-20cm tailor right up at the end of Smiths Creek in the Cowan system - it seems that young tailor "grow up" well up the estuary (e.g. Homebush), and then migrate seawards(e.g. east of the bridge). But baked, tailor tastes great. 6 minutes a side at 280 degrees. Serve with teriyaki sauce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulcahya Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 Wow! Thanks for the feedback fellow fishers. I'm a little surprised that the eastern section of the harbour bridge has a recommendation on it, so I will be careful how much I take from there. I'll search around for more info on the Georges. Can't imagine it being as bad as the harbour as there was no Homebush Bay to pollute the place. BTW, went fishing in the Hacking today and caught nothing worth remembering. Baffler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tumra Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 mate i had to fish the hacking for half a year before i started to consistently take a feed home. You have to keep at it to figure out that river. Good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongrass18ft Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Wow! Thanks for the feedback fellow fishers. I'm a little surprised that the eastern section of the harbour bridge has a recommendation on it, so I will be careful how much I take from there. I'll search around for more info on the Georges. Can't imagine it being as bad as the harbour as there was no Homebush Bay to pollute the place. BTW, went fishing in the Hacking today and caught nothing worth remembering. Baffler Baffler if you were at the mouth of the hacking yesterday , you should of done OK , there were quite a few boats there fishing yesterday. Give the hacking upstream a few days like other systems to clear up a bit after the rain everything is being flushed towards the heads. Also bring along burley when fishing the hacking and put out plenty to bring on the fish chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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