DEPARTMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENT

SOUTH-WEST ANGLERS ASKED TO HELP FISH STUDY

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Anglers fishing in the Glenelg River in South-west Victoria are being asked to assist Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) scientists who are researching the movement of Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus).

Fish Ecology Scientists, Jason Lieschke and Daniel Stoessel are based at DSE’s Arthur Rylah Institute and say the research will examine the movement of Mulloway over three years using acoustic tags which have been surgically implanted into 30 fish.

“The fish also have external tags so that anglers who catch them can identify the fish as being part of the research program.

“We’re hoping that anglers who catch the tagged fish will record the tag number as well as the date, location and length of the fish before releasing it back into the river.

“The tag also has a telephone number that they can call to pass the information on.

“The information they provide will be important because it is examining the movements of the fish and relating it to the amount of dissolved oxygen, salinity, level of flow and temperature in different parts of the Glenelg River.

“If an angler decides to keep a tagged fish, it would assist the work if they can record the date, location and length of the fish and send the acoustic tag itself to the address supplied.

“If possible it would also be helpful if they could keep and freeze the head and internal organs and call the number supplied to arrange collection.”

The acoustic tags were implanted into 30 Mulloway which were then released into the Glenelg River.

Stationary VR2 listening stations have been set up at 20 sites throughout the estuary to track the movements of the tagged Mulloway.

The acoustic tags emit sound waves on a unique frequency, which enables the identification of individual fish.

Whenever a tagged fish passes close to a listening station, its number, date and time will be recorded. Scientists can then use this information to plot the movements of fish.