Ever caught a tagged fish?
It turns out the chances really are one in a million.
Australia’s volunteer tagging database Infofish recently became the first citizen science tagging program in the world to tag 1 million fish since its inception in 1986.
To put that in perspective, it took 17,000 volunteer taggers a combined 198,600 days (that’s 544 years) to net the milestone.
Combine that with 76,000 recaptures of tagged fish reported by 23,000 fishers, and another 460,000 fish from catch records and competitions, and it adds up to a seafood buffet of valuable insights.
Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Rural Communities Minister Mark Furner said community-based fish tagging had made a significant contribution to our understanding of the movement patterns and growth rates of many fish species, and the Infofish program was recognised as a world leader in this space.
“As well as allowing us to monitor changes in our fish populations at a local level, the program also promotes stewardship by educating anglers on the best ways to catch, handle and release the fish they tag,” he said.
The data provided by recreational anglers as part of the Infofish program is often used in combination with targeted biological data and fisheries information collected by Fisheries Queensland to inform the assessment for some of Queensland’s most important recreational species.
“Not bad for a volunteer citizen science program,” said Bill Sawynok, secretary for program partner Suntag.
“The great work of all those 17,000 fishers voluntarily contributing their time, fishing equipment and money to tag fish needs to be acknowledged, as without that, what has been achieved would not have been possible,” Mr Sawynok said.
In an effort to boost the tagging scheme and recreational fishing tourism, Infofish and the Freshwater Fishing and Stocking Association of Queensland have been working to deliver the Fish‘n’SIP$ tagged fish competition.
Cash prizes of between $1,000 and $20,000 have been on the line since 14 December 2022, with five lakes in the Wide-Bay Burnett, Central and North Queensland regions each breaming with 20 prized fish.
Mr Furner said fishers had already caught tagged fish and claimed first and second prize.
“Reportedly there are increased enquiries about both the scheme and the competition, with many anglers being drawn to new impoundments in the regions and reporting captures of other tagged fish,” he said.
To participate in the competition, you’ll need a SIPS permit, which are available online at dafqld.forms.decipha.auspost/sip, through the QLD Fishing 2.0 smartphone app, at 585 Australia Post outlets throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales, or by phoning 1300 575 359.
Visit qld.gov.au/recreation/activities/boating-fishing/rec-fishing/dams to find the nearest stocked waterway and buy a permit, or call 13 25 23 for more information.
