VICTAG REPORT FOR 2004/05 SEASON

The 2004/05 season will go down as the year of the Dusky Flathead. Due to the tireless efforts of Peter Spehr, his son Paul and Brett Geddes 2,873 Dusky Flathead were tagged and released in East Gippsland. This resulted in 236 recaptures processed for this species during the year. There were also 1,118 Snapper under 40cm tagged for the year along with 929 Black Bream and 395 Estuary Perch.

To date 6,152 tag releases have been recorded on the database for 2004/05 with some datasheets still being submitted. The total tag releases on the database is currently standing at 60,974 fish with 1,771 recaptures which represents a 2.90% return on tag releases.

Victag was once again unsuccessful in obtaining any funding from the Recreational Fishing License trust funds. This placed significant pressures on the program as it looked like we were going to struggle to cover our operational costs for a while. MAFRI purchased $2,000 for 2,000 hook locations for Bream and Snapper which took some pressure off. Victag is now out of t-bar and dart tags and only has a few hundred large shark tags in stock. Funding was also sort by way of corporate sponsorship but this was also unsuccessful. Our forth and ultimately unsuccessful application to the Fisheries Revenue Allocation Committee (FRAC) has been made by Victag. This application was prepared by Ross Winstanley and I would like to thank Ross for his time and effort he has put in.

Year	00/01	01/02	02/03	03/04	04/05	Total
Total Tag Releases	5,809	6,840	7,606	8,130	6,152	60,974
Total Recaptures	192	137	148	232	367	1,771
Rate Of Return	3.30%	2.01%	1.94%	2.85%	5.97%	2.90%

Table 2: Results of Victag tagging over the past five years

Table 2 summarises the results over the last five years. It was a big year for recaptures as can be seen with 367 recaptures processed, clearly our biggest year for recaptures by a considerable margin. While Dusky Flathead dominated there were some great Snapper, Bream and Mulloway recaptures reported. The tag releases were down due to our inability to maintain a steady tag supply to the taggers.

Species Tagged and Recapture Rates

Table 3 summarises the tag releases and recaptures for the 2004/05 season and provides a comparison with overall results of the program.

2004/05						Overall
Species	Fish tagged	Recaptures	Recap Rate	Fish tagged	Recaptures		Recap Rate
Snapper over 39cm	54	10	18.52%	198	21		10.61%
Flathead Yank	23	1	4.35%	602	31		5.15%
Flathead Dusky	2,873	236	8.21%	4,531	330		7.28%
Shark Gummy	54	8	14.81%	756	90		11.90%
Silver Trevally	37	1	2.70%	956	42		4.39%
Estuary Perch	395	9	2.28%	2,158	55		2.55%
Australian Salmon	203	6	2.96%	3,594	199		5.54%
Australian Bass	20	0	0.0%	117	1		0.85%
Snapper under 40cm	1,118	28	2.50%	21,479	350		1.63%
Black Bream	929	41	4.41%	14,634	300		2.05%
Whiting King George	246	6	2.44%	4,698	145		3.09%
Wrasse Blue Throat	6	1	16.67%	902	32		3.55%
Damaged	41	0	0.00%	736	0		0.00%
Elephant Fish	11	2	18.18%	297	6		2.02%
Luderick	40	0	0.00%	140	0		0.00%
Mulloway under 75cm	13	1	7.68%	54	1		1.85%

Table 3: Victag fish tagged and recaptured in 2004/05 and overall

The highest recapture rate for any species is still Gummy Shark at an overall rate of 11.90%. A significant percentage of these recaptures are reported by the commercial sector. The recapture rate for Snapper under 40 cm was higher at 2.50% in comparison to the overall rate of 1.63% while the recapture rate for Dusky Flathead, predominately a recreational species, was 8.21 % for the year compared with an overall rate of 7.28%.

Austag Research Report 2004/05 Figure 12: Peter Spehr and 64cm Dusky Flathead from Lake Tyers (left – Brett Geddes photo) and a dart Tagged Hopkins River Bream about to be released (right – Scott Gray Warnambool Fishcare photo)

Angler Tag Effort

The tag effort from ANSA members is way down from previous years with no ANSA member in the top ten taggers. Congratulations to Brett Geddes who managed to tag 1,314 fish for the season despite difficulties encountered in the tag supply. Peter Spehr also followed up last year’s incredible effort of 2,336 fish tagged with a lazy 1,051 fish for 2005. Congratulations also to Gerard Hawthorne who broke the 1,000 fish mark in only his second year as a member of Victag Taggers, a fantastic effort. Table 4 lists the top ten taggers for the year.

Fish Tagged
Angler		04/05		Total	Club
1	Geddes B		1,314	2,147	Victag Tagger
2	Spehr Peter		1,051	3,676	Victag Tagger
3	Hawthorne G		502	1,141	Victag Tagger
4	Spehr Paul		494	623	Victag Tagger
5	Neaves P		339	6,110	Victag Tagger
6	Winstanley R		210	2,285	Victag Tagger
7	Fellows M		191	810	Victag Tagger
8	Dorward A		123	310	Victag Tagger
9	Lee G		123	1,445	Victag Tagger
10	Shingles R		117	138	Victag Tagger

Table 4: Top 10 Taggers in Victag

Club Tag Effort

The tag effort of ANSA Clubs has dropped dramatically again this year with the top five clubs managing to tag only 249 fish in total (table 5). The performance of clubs was down this year due in part to difficulties in maintaining a supply of tags. The total ANSA tag effort was only 6% of the total fish tagged for the year.

Club	2004/05		Total
Portland SFC	75	8,200	ANSA
Bellarine L G & SFC	52	944	ANSA
Geelong Bluewater SFC	45	4,794	ANSA
Port Fairy SFC	41	41	ANSA
Dandenong SFC	36	2,300	ANSA
Total		249

Table 5: Top clubs tagging in Victag

Recaptures of Interest

A Snapper (A26117), with a total length of 27cm, tagged by Kevin Cahill of the Portland Sport & Game Fishing Club on the 18 March 1997 off Portland in Western Victoria, was recaptured on the 30 October 2004 off Frankston in Port Phillip Bay with a reported total length of 70cm. This fish had been at liberty for 2,783 days during which time it had grown 43cm and travelled 324 km east. Another snapper tagged by Kevin on the 10th February 1999 with a total length/fork length of 33cm/29cm off Alestree near Portland was recaptured on the 31 October 2004 also off Frankston. The total length of this fish on recapture was reported at 54cm having grown by 21cm during its 2,090 days at liberty.

A Snapper tagged by Ross Winstanley in Corio Bay on the 26 December 1997 with a total length/fork length of 29cm/26cm was recaptured 2,495 days later off Altona by a commercial fisher. This fish was reported by a restaurateur in Sydney who had purchased the fish from his local fish market. The fish had grown 34 cm, (fork length), during its time at liberty and was recaptured 48km from the tag release site. The otoliths were recovered from this fish by NSW Fisheries for microchemistry analysis and aging by the scientists at PIRVic.

A 30cm Snapper tagged by Paul Neaves of Brighton in Port Phillip Bay on the 12 February 2000 was recaptured 1,756 days later at the Fawkner Beacon a mere 6 km from where the ish was originally tagged. The fish had grown by 24cm during its time at liberty with a reported total length of 54cm. A Westernport Bay Snapper tagged on the 20 January 2001 with a fork length of 29cm by Helen Burnie of the Westernport Angling Club. The fish was recaptured back in Westernport Bay on 3 March 2005 after 1,503 days at liberty and had grown by 22cm with a reported fork length of 51cm. This fish was released by the angler who recaptured it.

A 20cm Black Bream tagged in the Glenelg River by Cheryl Schulz of the Portland Sport & Game Fishing Club on the 29 December 2001 was recaptured on 8 March 2005 at Granite Rocks near Kingston in South Australia. The fish had grown by 4cm during its 1,165 days at liberty and travelled 225 km north west. A Black Bream tagged in the Anglesea River on the 28 January 2003 with total length of 20cm by Victag Tagger Jeff Welsh was recaptured on the 6 January 2005 after 709 days at liberty with a reported total length of 23.3cm. This fish had only grown by 3.3cm. However a 23cm Glenelg River Black Bream tagged by Elizabeth Astbury of the Portland Sport & Game Fishing Club on the 15 December 2002 with a total length of 23cm was recaptured on 15 April 2005 with a reported total length of 30.5cm. During this Bream’s 852 days at liberty it had grown by 7.5cm.

A Dusky Flathead tagged by Brett Geddes in Lake Tyers on the 12 July 2003, total length 32cm, was recaptured 483 days later on the 6 November 2004.

This fish had grown by an incredible 16cm during this period with a reported total length of 48cm. Another Dusky tagged by Brett in Lake Tyers on the 7 August 2004 with a total length of 47cm was recaptured 100 days later 10kms downstream and in the main body of Lake Tyers. The fish had grown by 1cm during this period. The fish was released and subsequently recaptured again 96 days later by Peter Spehr on the 19 February 2005. The total length of the fish on recapture was still 48cm however it had swum back upstream to the area where it had been originally tagged a distance of 10km. This is yet another example of how extensively the Dusky Flathead move around this system.

A 35cm Blue Throat Wrasse that was tagged on the 6 April 2001 by Murray Stewart of the Geelong Bluewater Sportfishing Club was recaptured after 1,299 days at Barwon Heads. The angler failed to measure this fish but reported that it was over a kilo in weight and it had moved approximately 2 km west. The fish was released by the angler so hopefully it will be recaptured again at some stage in the future. This fish is the longest at liberty Blue Throat Wrasse recorded on the database and shows that this species will hold a tag for a considerable period of time.

Elephant Fish attract a lot of attention from anglers when they make there annual run into Westernport Bay. A 65cm Elephant Fish tagged by Eddie Coronado on the 12 April 2005 at Corinella was recaptured by a commercial fisher a mere 76 days later of Lakes Entrance. This fish had swum 305 km north east travelling at an average of 4 km per day.

Funding

The issue of funding is a continual challenge for the program. Our application to the Fisheries Revenue Allocation Committee, (FRAC), was again rejected for the fourth year in a row. The lack of support for Victag, which has proven itself over more than a decade to be a valuable addition to the data sources on Victorian recreational fisheries, continues to be a disappointment. This disappointment is magnified by the lack of support from our own industry people who continue to ignore this program in favour of government/departmental projects. What more does Victag need to do to demonstrate its value in involving recreational fishers in data collection and research?

An application has recently been submitted for funding to the RFCGP of the Commonwealth Government. Hopefully the Commonwealth Government will provide greater recognition to Victag than it receives from the Victorian Government.