SUNTAG, one of the largest volunteer fish databases in the world, has passed a
significant milestone with over 1 million fish records in the database.
Queensland’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, John McVeigh congratulated
Infofish Australia and the Australian National Sportfishing Association Qld Inc and the more than 25,000 fishers who contributed records to the database over the past 27 years.
Minister McVeigh said, “This is a significant achievement by all those involved because Suntag is considered to be the best managed volunteer fish database in the world. I’m pleased the Queensland Government has provided funding to maintain this important fisheries information asset and we’ve provided an additional $40,000 in 2013/14.”
Suntag is managed by Infofish Australia in partnership with the Australian National Sportfishing Association Qld Inc (ANSAQ).
ANSAQ president Jason Stanfield said, “This important milestone is recognition of the efforts of many of our members over a long time. The database has provided a wealth of information that’s allowed us to better understand and manage our fisheries.”
Bill Sawynok, Manager of Infofish Australia said, “Having a world class database here in Queensland is an important asset for the fishing industry. Infofish Australia has a policy of ensuring that we use leading edge technology in collecting and delivering information to deal with the real issues that the fishing industry faces on a continuing basis.”
The total number of fish records in the database now exceeds 1.02 million with records of 692,000 tagged fish, 280,000 fish from catches and 54,000 recaptures of tagged fish.
