C&R Barra - Pros and Cons

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Hi All,

Read an article a while back which questioned the logic of releasing large barra back into stocked impoundments. It suggested that if there were too many large barra in the impoundment, then when the stocked fingerlings are released, it is likely that most of them will be gobbled up by the larger fish in relatively short time.

I notice that most guys on here go for C&R, was wondering if this is the norm for the majority of fishers, or whether a lot of the larger fish are taken as well?

Do the large barra in the impoundments breed sucessfully and contribute to the stock levels? If not, I guess it would actually be better to not release them when caught.

Is there any info available on survival rates of the stocked fingerlings?

Cheers
Jeff

[andy_thomsen]

Hi Jeff,

I am in two minds about this matter.

Yes I think big Barra eat small Barra, I have seen it.
I have also seen a 109cm Barra spit out a fish of about 30cm, so they will have an impact on stocking.

The flip side is that if you kill all the big Barra you are removing a valuable source of nutrient, a dam is a closed food chain, with the exception of leaves and a few insects. If you take out a whole link you will cause problems.

Sure take a few fish home for a feed, but don't slaughter all of them, there is never such a thing as an endless supply.

That goes for anything and everything on this planet.

[PG]

Do the large barra in the impoundments breed sucessfully and contribute to the stock levels?

Barra need salt or brackish water to breed which is why they travel downstream and upstream during flooding, they won't breed in a damn.

[BOMBER]

Hi Gorilla,

Noticed in your post your question re Barra breeding in impoundments unfortunately mate they don't breed in the fresh need to migrate to the salt for this to happen and with those huge cement walls in the road they just grow huge get caught then die.

regards,

THE BOMBER

[Foxie]

Gooday Jeff
The infro we are geting on big barra from the DPI here at Lake Monduran is its better to take them than to release them as they do not breed in impoundments, and eat a lot of your smaller barra, but what a waste. The local stocking group, council and DPI are working on putting in large holding tanks where any large barra that are caught can be placed into them and kept alive. When there is say x amount of fish in the tanks they are then transported downstream and released into the freshwater above the weir that seperates the fresh from saltwater. This way the large breeding fish have a very good chance of making to the salt to spawn and to build up stocks of barra in the river systems. Most of the details have been sorted out but now it's just finding the money to build it.
Cheers Foxie

[Fitzy]

Gooday Jeff
The infro we are geting on big barra from the DPI here at Lake Monduran is its better to take them than to release them as they do not breed in impoundments, and eat a lot of your smaller barra, but what a waste. The local stocking group, council and DPI are working on putting in large holding tanks where any large barra that are caught can be placed into them and kept alive. When there is say x amount of fish in the tanks they are then transported downstream and released into the freshwater above the weir that seperates the fresh from saltwater. This way the large breeding fish have a very good chance of making to the salt to spawn and to build up stocks of barra in the river systems. Most of the details have been sorted out but now it's just finding the money to build it.
Cheers Foxie

G'Day Foxie,
Did the permit to move barra over the wall get approved? I know it was to go before the last translocation committee meeting.

fitzy..

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the quality, promt relpies (as per the norm on ausfish .

Never caught a barra, wild or stocked, so was wondering if I should be frowned upon if my first happened to come from a stocked impoundment and I took it for dinner. Certainly not in any danger of "slaughtering them all" andy.
Sound like a fish or two taken might actually be of benefit to the fingerlings. This of course changes if they commonly get a flogging from the majority of fishos.

Also interested in the survival rate of the fingerlings released. Wouldn't want to see all the hard work of the stocking groups get hooverd up in the first month. If barra fingerlings are routinely getting slaughtered by the big resident barra, may as well feed them some other cheeper fingerlings, yes?

The government also seems fond of quoting $ contibuted to fish stocking and numbers of released fingerlings as evidence of their great contribution to rec fishing. Was wondering if their $ contributions might be better applied to research or other infrastructure (like the live tanks mentioned), rather than just quoting thousands of fingerlings released to make it look like they are doing the right thing.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Cheers
Jeff

[Foxie]

Fitzy
As far as I am aware it has been approved as the only problem the DPI had with the concept was it needed proof that the barra stocked in the dam were of the same species or genitic strain as those fish that are found in the release area and saltwater reachesof the Kolan River. This has been proven and the Ok given
I will check with the DPI fisheries research Officier who has working on the project.
Foxie

[andy_thomsen]

With the amount of fodder food in Peter Faust Dam (not sure about other dams).
It is hard to believe that a Big Barra would go out of it's way to eat a small barra that hides exceptionaly well and generally doesn't act like food, as compared to Boney Bream and Banded grunter. These two fodder fish swim around looking like dinner. Boney Bream in all sizes are common from 3cm-40cm.

Sure some Barra will be eaten by others, but until there is good research done I don't think we should kill all the big fish.
Take what you want to eat for sure.

[Fitzy]

We went down this path with the bass, cod, yellas in years gone past.
I think as a fishery gains in popularity the amount of fish caught & taken also increases. It basically goes back to the basic principles of the stocking program in Qld, Put, Grow & Take. The fortold doom & gloom of collapsing bass, cod, yella fisheries that some were bantering far & wide still hasnt eventuated & we liberate 5 times the amount of fish nowadays.
Cant see why barra lakes will be any different.

Even if there were no big fish getting taken, those big fish are still there to be caught & will eventually be replaced by re-stocking. I think each individual location is capable of handling X amount of fish, once this is reached it doesnt really matter if a high majority of the new fish get eaten, it will mean the maximum stocking density is being maintained.

A trophy size fish represents a significant effort by the fishery, to have one killed to make way for a smaller one doesnt exactly fill my heart with joy. Fair enough if someone wants to take one for a feed, but I dont kill fish & cant bring myself to cut ones throat just for the eels, crows & crayfish to eat.
We could replace fishery that produces a few exceptionally big fish, or a location that produces alot of small & average fish. Either or, that location will still be at its maximum density. You can only fit X amount of apples in barrell.

I'm of 2 minds on the issue with no "compelling" evidence to suggest one way is better than the other.

Cheers,

fitzy..