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NEWSLINESAUSTRALIAN TAGGING PROGRAM
GOLD COAST TO JERVIS BAY
A dolphinfish (mahimahi) tagged by
Bruce Keown aboard Gold Coast GFC
boatAdioshas recently been recaptured
off the south coast of NSW. Bruce
released the estimated 7kg dolphinfish in
excellent condition on 19 January 2018
while fishing off Jumpinpin on the Gold
Coast. Only 23 days later, Wollongong
GFC angler Coen Mackay recaptured the
fish aboardBean Flickinwhile fishing the
Drum Canyons off Jervis Bay in southern
NSW. The dolphinfish was estimated at
around 7kg and 1m in length on both
occasions. The fish had covered 467
nautical miles during its time at liberty,
an average of 20 nautical miles per day.
Most dolphinfish don’t live beyond two
years of age and have a maximum life
expectancy of four years. To date there
have been in excess of 26,450 dolphinfish
tagged and 244 recaptures reported to
the NSW DPI Game Fish Tagging Program.BLUEWATER’S SWORDFISH
TAG AWARD
As announced last winter, BlueWater
magazine has donated a bronze trophy
and NSW DPI has created a special
Swordfish Tag and Release Certificate
to encourage more tagging of broadbill
swordfish. The certificate will be issued
for each swordfish tagged, and the first
50 tagged swords reported will also
receive a DPI Tagging Program hat.
BlueWater’s magnificent bronze Bodo
Muche swordfish sculpture will be awarded
to the Australian boat tagging and releasing
the most swordfish between 1 July 2017
and 30 June 2018. The winner will be
determined from tag cards returned to
NSW DPI, however, to qualify for this[email protected] from the
National Research Institute of Far Seas
Fisheries detailed the recapture. The fish
was recaptured over 1271 nautical miles
(2353km) from its original release location
off Sydney.
The shortbill spearfish is one of the
smallest and least understood species of
billfishes. Only 552 spearfish have been
tagged and released since the program’s
beginnings in 1973 and only two have
been recaptured to date, with the first
recapture reported in 2009.A 16kg spearfish tagged off Sydney
was recaptured by a longliner 584 days
later in the Coral Sea, having travelled a
straight-line distance of 2353km.The release and
recapture points of
a tagged shortbill
spearfish and a
dolphinfish recently
reported to the
Australian Tagging
Program.SHORTBILL SPEARFISH
RECAPTURED
A shortbill spearfish released by keen
junior angler Rhys Cokun from his father’s
boat, Mr Magoo, has been recaptured
near Papua New Guinea!
The fish was tagged on 3 April 2016 while
fishing off Sydney and it was estimated at
180cm and 16kg on release. Fast forward
584 days to 8 November 2017 and the
spearfish was caught by a Japanese
longline vessel fishing deep in the Coral
Sea, 175 nautical miles south of PNG.
An email sent this April to gamefish.