Legalised Queenfish Genocide
Firstly thank you for all your well wishes for the postponed Hang Gliding expedition to Stanwell Tops.
It is rumoured that I might receive a call over the Easter break to jump off that same cliff this weekend. I’ll keep you posted!
On another note, if you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the “Fish ‘n’ Pix” section of the www.skippermeggs.com website take a look because my nephew Craig Baxter proudly displays a 78cm jewie that he caught off Bulli Beach last Saturday night.
I have a stack of photos that I need to load in that section so keep an eye out over the next month as it expands.
By the way, the most creative answer I have had to the “Name this fish” section of the Skipper Meggs website is “Kevin”.
Ok, this week I’m going to discuss the life cycle of a fish that is a cousin of the trevally family and after viewing the title of this week’s post you probably have already guessed the fact that it is indeed the Queenfish or Scomberoides Commersonnianus (a fish that causes piles?).
These tough fighting fish grow to over 120cm in length and can weigh in at 14Kg and are thought to live up to 15 years of age.
They prefer shallow waters or reefs, islands or estuaries and are not overly fond of deeper water or far offshore locations.
They are found across the top of Australia from say Fraser Island in Queensland to northern Western Australia.
In 2005 the CSIRO conducted a study into the life cycle of the Queenfish that was co-funded by the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage and the National Oceans Office. Local fisherman in the Gulf of Carpentaria (including Dave Donald Sportsfishing Charters and the Weipa Sportsfishing Club) provided the study with some 300 Queenfish specimens that were caught in and around the Weipa area.
Queenfish spawning appears to occur from September through to February largely through the wet season with a peak during November. It is still unclear as to where spawning occurs (offshore?) but what is known that during the spawning season a female Queenfish will release around two million eggs.
Male Queenfish (no not Kingfish!) and females grow at more or less at the same rate and reach a length of 30cm in the first year and about 80cm at age 5. Their growth slows considerably after this time.
Interestingly the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries website claims the Queenfish matures sexually at 63cm whilst the study found that this is achieved at age 4-5 years at a length of 72cm.
The Fisheries website claims that size limits on caught fish are introduced to “generally allow fish to spawn at least once and contribute to the population before they are taken.” This makes complete sense and such a stance should be applauded to protect future fish stocks.
So what is the Queensland regulation in relation to bag and size limits for Queenfish?
Well if you are fishing in Queensland you can catch and kill as many Queenfish as you want at any length - only in the Gulf of Carpentaria is there a minimum size limit of 45cm, which as already discussed is well below the sexual maturity length of 72cm.
Well intentioned fisherman, catching and keeping Queenfish within size and bag limits in Queensland may actually be playing a part in the genocide of this species.
Once again, Skipper Meggs will be writing to the regulators in an attempt to extract some juvenile justice for the young Queenfish so that we can protect this species for future generations.
I will keep you posted with their reply.
Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs