Do you go fishing for Yellowtail Kingfish off Victoria’s coast?
It’s time to have your say on the Victorian Fisheries Authority’s proposal to reduce the bag limit for Yellowtail Kingfish from 5 to 2 per person per day.
As the peak body for recreational fishers, VRFish are calling on recfishers to have your say in our latest survey and let us know if you support the proposed changes to bag limits.
The survey will only take a few minutes to complete and will close Monday 15th September at 11.59pm.
Background
Yellowtail Kingfish are a highly sought after and valued recreational fish species in Victoria, typically averaging 5-10kg each.
Recreational fishers have raised concerns that current recreational fishing regulations for the species are outdated, particularly the 5 fish per person day bag limit, being seen as beyond a reasonable day’s harvest for valued fish of such a large size.
Particularly large numbers of kingfish caught and harvested at Port Welshpool and Mallacoota in recent seasons have been highlighted as potentially causing local depletion during peak fishing periods.
The Victorian Fisheries Authority, in partnership with recreational fishers, have reviewed bag and size limits for the species as well as scientific research and neighbouring jurisdictions management, and is proposing to reduce the bag limit from 5 to 2 kingfish per person per day.
The proposed changes are expected to:
- Better reflect recfisher views of a reasonable day’s harvest
- Better share the catch amongst more fishers
- Reduce local depletion of the species during peak fishing periods
- Potentially improve the fishery quality through better sized fish
- Align with the bag limit of other offshore species such as gummy and school shark.
