DR James Haddy from IMAS in Launceston is running a King George whiting frame donation research program. It appears that the adult whiting move out of the estuaries to spawn in deeper coastal areas up to 100m deep in April, and although he has sampled over 588 fish so far, he doesn’t have any mature/spawning fish captured in April. This is despite 7 years of sample collection. Information on adult whiting is important to assess the current minimum legal size of whiting in Tasmania. Currently, the smallest mature female recorded in Tasmania measured 37cm in total length with the next smallest individual measuring 40cm TL. What he needs is if anybody catches a whiting (particularly in coastal waters in APRIL) is to donate the fish frame for science. So instead of throwing the fish in the bin or back in the water after its been filleted.
He would like the fish frame with the guts left in and frozen in a bag with an approximate location (EG devoport, burnie, tamar etc) and a date. Additional information such a depth, bottom type etc would also be great. Frames can be dropped off at Tamar marine, or he can be contacted to organise a pickup/drop off arrangements of frozen frames if that’s inconvenient. His email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. that’s haddy with 2 D’s and a Y. His research and others conducted in Tasmania demonstrate that females grow larger than males and that they can reach up to 18 yrs of age. The stock appears to be supported by a few strong year classes in particular 2001,2003,2007 and 2010. It also shows that the St Helens stock does show genetic differences to the North west stock of King George whiting. This suggest there may be multiple unknown area where king George whiting spawn in Tasmania.
SO it would be great that if you catch whiting please consider donating the frame for science and contact him. He is also presenting a talk on assessing fish biology using his previous research on estuary perch, southern blue spot flathead, rock flathead, Snook, and whiting at the North West Recreational Fisheries Public Forum in Devonport, on the 16 April 2018 at the Mersey Yacht Club East Devonport between 6:30 and 8:00pm.
James Haddy
Course Coordinator, Lecturer
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)
University of Tasmania
IMAS Launceston, Newnham campus, Science Building
Locked Bag 1370
Launceston TAS 7250
T +61 3 6324 3828 | F +61 3 6324 3804 | mobile 0439 032 935
imas.utas.edu.au
