Flathead study moves to Bridport
• Flathead fishery researchers Stewart Isles, William Thorpe and Graeme Ewing set off from Bridport.
By Tony Scott
March 17, 2021
Bridport’s Anderson Bay has been added to a list of sites that are part of a research study of the recreational flathead fishery around the State.
Sand flathead are the most commonly caught species by recreational fishers in Tasmania.
The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania is conducting the study lead by Associate Professor Sean Tracey to help form an information base for management of the fishery.
“Independent surveys suggest relatively low abundances of legal-sized fish, particularly in south-eastern Tasmania where populations are subject to heavy fishing pressure,” Associate Professor Tracey said.
The surveys of three sites in the South, including the D’Entrecasteux Channel, were the basis of an increase in the minimum size limit and reduction in bag limit
“The Fisheries Research Development Commission-funded study will evaluate available biological and fishery data collected on sand flathead within Tasmanian waters and will assist researchers in developing a reliable and cost-effective stock assessment model, which will include a tool for testing future management scenarios,” he said.
The leader of the field work, IMAS Technical Officer Graeme Ewing, said the long term sites in Frederik Henry Bay, Great Oyster Bay and the Channel have been studied for about 10 years.
The new sites, Mercury Passage, Georges Bay and coastal at St Helens, Tamar and coastal, Port Sorell, Stanley and Bridport had been added for the next three years.
“We’re trying to pick the brains of local anglers in all these places to find the favoured spots and test out the theories of when and where the fish are.
“The information we end up through this random sampling is quite valuable to build up a fairly scientific picture of the health of the fishery.
“Certainly we can say that the fisheries in the North of the State seem to be a lot healthier than those in more heavily fished sheltered areas in the South, some of them on Hobart’s doorstep,” Mr Ewing said.
The three-member team had no trouble catching the sample of 80 fish off Bridport, but that was allowed to include under legal size.