THE recent article by Dr Ben Diggles, Brisbane’s Mysterious barra, in which the writer looks at increasing incidents of barramundi captures in the south east QLD region created plenty of interest on the Fisho site.
In the detailed piece, Diggles discusses the more recent phenomenon of barra (and other northern species such as threadfin salmon and mangrove jack) turning up in more southerly locations than their previously known distribution ranges.
Diggles also recounts his recent capture of an 85cm barra – and encounters with some bigger fish – that took place within 50km of the Brisbane CBD.
Unfortunately, the piece also drew criticism from a few opinionated “experts” on internet chatrooms such as http://www.nuggetoutdoors.com.au/smf/index.php?topic=21571.0 .
On this site, the authenticity of Diggles’ article and Fishing World’s reporting of the story is questioned by one contributor in particular, “Manny”, who posts in part:
“If this magazine allows this type of reporting, how many other stories are true? In fact, can we believe what any fishing journo reports? But then again they are fisherpersons and everyone knows what good story tellers fishos are.” – Manny
In contrast, others aware of Diggles’ standing in the area of marine sciences were quick to defend his respected reputation.
“Dr Ben Diggles is a marine scientist with a list of credentials as long as my arm.
He has never ‘hidden’ his identity, he runs a fish consultancy business called Digsfish.
His byline has appeared in Fishing World and other publications for a lot of years – he has earned the industry respect he has. If Ben says he says he caught barra around Brisbane I would not question it – it would be the truth.” – Nugget
Further on the topic, here are some recent incidents of SE Queensland barra catches reported in mainstream media:
If you’ve got a view on this topic feel free to add your voice to those above…
