Kingfish Go wild Update 12

Today was the northern clubs' turn as we released kingfish at two sites namely Mill Bay, Manganui and Radcliffes Bay in Whangaroa.

One of the key problems we have been faced with is the fish were not as small as we were expecting to get. Although there are some smaller fish it would now appear that the average size could be well above the estimated 1kg we thought. This situation has meant that while our total numbers of fish released will be significantly down on our original expectations, the tonnage is still up. On the plus side these larger fish will have a greater chance of fending for themselves and given that nearly 40% were wearing kingfish go wild tags this will provide valuable information in the future.

On this note I ask the local communities to restrict their set net use in the areas where our kingfish have been released. Yesterday it was pointed out that the Noises group of islands is a regular commercial set net area. Today in talking with a local commercial net fisherman he acknowledged our project and said that he would pass on the word and the commercial boys would avoid the area. So please pass the message on and in doing so I thank every one for there support. While we all tried to cover all contingencies and identified the risks and threats to these fish the greatest risk is set nets.

The first release today was in Mill Bay where a strong spectator turnout of over 300 people witnessed the release of these magnificent kingfish, fish so many fisho’s had contributed to. The Northland Age was in attendance and apart from one fish that was determined to come back on land and need some encouragement in directional training, there were no casualties.

Originally the release was going to be at Totara North Ramp, but after discussions amongst the locals and looking at the shelter and food stocks it was decided by them that these fish would fare better on the other side of the harbour.

The second release took part late this afternoon at Radcliffes Bay where both the ITM fishing show and the Northern Advocate were in attendance along with a good number of locals. It is great how everyone has taken to and embraced this project. Once again these larger fish created an impressive boil up has they escaped into the wild. While watching the mayhem one local was heard to comment on how clearly these smaller tags showed up and he was impressed with the large number of tagged fish entering the bay.

Now these fish will soon be hungry and as they quickly learn to feed in the wild they will be likely to fall prey of sprat and fishing lines so parents if we can ask our keen young fisho’s in the family to refrain from fishing near the release sites this will help to give these fish a chance.

The next two sites tomorrow will be Houhora ramp beside the club and Bay of Islands. Then it will be a time to take stock at the farm Meanwhile our sterling transport from Lawson Cartage have some prior booked jobs to get back to. So we will give an update on the current play when we have more info.

I would also like to give all recreational fishers a reminder that the annual NZ Recreational Fishing Council conference starts this Friday 14th of July at the Hamilton Motor Lodge by the airport. All recreational fishers are invited to attend where there will be some great discussions over marine protected areas, shared fisheries and the like. All are most welcome so why not drop in.

In the meantime my thanks go to all who have contributed to this project, no donation is to small as it all helps in the pot.

A special thanks to Michael from Generator Web who have kept the site updates coming to you all while our volunteer webmaster has been away.

Regards Keith

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