RECREATIONAL anglers have been doing a fantastic job tagging King George whiting with 635 fish now tagged in Port Phillip and Western Port.
There have also been 36 recaptures of tagged fish. The longest period between tagging and recapture was 16 months, and the fish grew from 33 to 44 cm.
Like most of the recaptured fish, this whiting was caught close to where it was tagged. There are some exceptions though, one 39 cm whiting moved from Somers to the top of French Island in Western Port in only 3 weeks.
All recaptures so far have been in the same bay as the fish was tagged, but as tagged fish get older and start to move out onto the coast the Victorian Fisheries Authority expect to get recaptures from further afield.
Victorian fishing licence fees are funding this project, run by the University of Melbourne.
More information can be found HERE.