Afant News

NT Jewies not so Tough!

MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate publication 31 August 2007

NT JEWIES NOT SO TOUGH!

Results released today of a research project on mortality rates of line-caught black jewfish give a very clear indication that these fish are extremely susceptible to severe damage from barotrauma (pressure changes resulting from them being brought to the surface from depth).

The project carried out by Michael Phelan and a team from the Coastal Research Unit in the Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines, and with funding support from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, has conducted post mortem examinations of more than 100 jewfish caught at various depths and it provides very clear evidence that jewfish pulled from more than 10 metres of water have very little chance of post-release survival.

“Most fishers think of the jewfish as a big tough customer that can take a bit of handling but this research demonstrates that they are much more likely to suffer acute damage from barotrauma than we would have thought,” explained AFANT President, Warren de With.

“Even if caught in depths less than 10 meters, they are likely to suffer damage unless they are quickly returned to the bottom. The researchers also found that many fish hooked on traditional ‘J’ hooks were likely to end up gut hooked with the hook in a position where it could damage essential organs. On the other hand, more than 90 percent of fish taken on circle hooks were lip hooked and the rest were hooked in the mouth.”

“The research results mean that we can no longer really consider the jewie as a catch-and-release target unless we fish for them in relatively shallow water and handle them very carefully.”

“AFANT is recommending that fishers working in more than 10 metres of water either change to smaller hooks to target other species or move off the jewfish once they have caught the fish they need to take home as there is little chance of any released jewies surviving if they are pulled from this depth.”

“If you want to catch and release jewfish, only do it in less than 10 metres of water, only use circle hooks and use a suitable release weight to get the fish quickly back down to depth. Information on release weights will be made available at www.afant.com.au in the near future.”

“We need to do these things ourselves to ensure the future of our jewie fishing and we also need government to implement the recommendations of the Possession Limit Review conducted last year that indicated we should reduce the limit from the current five fish to two or three.”

“This research has provided very important information for recreational fishers and I congratulate Michael and his team on their work,” Mr de With said.
End
Media enquiries to Chris Makepeace on 0415 471 600 or Warren de With on 8972 1589

Caption:

The first of these xrays shows a traditional ‘J’ hook well inside a jewfish’s abdominal area where it is virtually impossible to remove and can significantly damage internal organs. More than 40% of jewfish hooked on ‘J’ hooks were like this. The other xray shows a fish taken on a circle hook. 100% of jewfish caught on circle hooks were hooked in the lip like this or in the mouth allowing easy release and minimal damage to the fish. (Xray photographs courtesy of NT Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines)