Why havent they stocked Somerset with Mangrove Jac

[Fitzy]

There only one private hatchery that can currently spawn MJ's and for our more southern impoundments brood stock would have to be obtained from water ways which derive from those impoundments.

Dont go betting money on your statements. Any hatchery CAN spawn jacks, I know of several who have, nothing that hard about it. And for broodstock having to be sourced locally (not that that is a problem), well that all depends upon genetic variation, if theres none, then the need in not there.

As far as sooties are concernd im afriad it just wont happen becuase of they just never belonged here indemicly, so if u want sooties im sorry but you might just have to move a little farther north.

Theres endemic soots in the Mary River system & some in the goldy region apparently.

fitz

[bobby777888]

you wouldnt happen to know any exact locations would you fitzy?

[chemmy]

l

[Jim_Tait]

Fitzy,
I wouldn't go betting on your statement either mate re: endemic sooties in either the Mary or Goldy region - if they are there its due to the midnight stocking brigade and that would not make them endemic (= restricted to a particular region /range) - scientific data re sooties naturally in either of these systems is non-existent, and these regions have been better looked over than most.

Regards - Jim

[Fitzy]

Fitzy,
I wouldn't go betting on your statement either mate re: endemic sooties in either the Mary or Goldy region - if they are there its due to the midnight stocking brigade and that would not make them endemic (= restricted to a particular region /range) - scientific data re sooties naturally in either of these systems is non-existent, and these regions have been better looked over than most.

Regards - Jim

Hey Jim,

ENDEMIC: Native to or confined to a certain region Native CAN mean native to a country or region. A sooty is a native Oz fish, but not natural in the Mary R for eg.

Once a fish is established in a location it may be deemed to be endemic. eg Tilapia are now endemic in Lake Wivenhoe although they are non-native, a pest fish & listed as noxious.

Not implying soots are "native" to the mentioned locations, rather that they are there & are reproducing/sustaining populations. How they got there is another matter, however finger pointing (without evidence) will almost certainly lead to court proceedings as has been seen in the past.

fitz..

[Daintreeboy]

yep jacks are getting caught in Tinarro above legal size. The March Fish & Boat showed a beauty cover page, check it out.
Cheers, Mark

[Jim_Tait]

Fitzy,

endemic is still the wrong word as your own definition cites 'ENDEMIC: Native to or confined to a certain region' - the word confined pretty well says it - tilapia are not endemic to Wivenhoe - as they are neither native or 'confined' to that region. Certainly know in the scientific sense (or other uses of the word) that sootys are not endemic to the Mary or Gold Coast catchments.

Regards - Jim

[Cloud_9]

Jim do you happen to know a bloke name Kerry.
you and he would get on like a house on fire.
Cheers cloud 9

[Jim_Tait]

Kerry who?

and the basis for our relationship would be??

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Mangrove jack spawning isn't difficult, but there is a slight problem with actually keeping the juvenilles alive in the very early stages. i think early means about the first 7 days or so. Food is the problem,(possibly because jacks spawn at sea, inshore food sources are not the same) and at present less than 8-10% survival rate of juvenilles is common. "please don't quote me on that figure". Grow out ponds are used in places like Indonesia( i think) where millions of jack larvae are released in hope to gain decent survival rates. the Indonesians produce good numbers of mangrove jack, but from absolute masses of jack larvae. That 10 % figure is similar in their practises.
Once a juvenille jack passes that 7,8 or 9 day age barrier, the survival rates from that stage are much, much better. To gain similar numbers to that of barramundi fingerlings produced at this 10% survival rate of juvenilles(jack), mass projects would need to be undertaken to produce any numbers of jacks to stock our waterways unless the "BREAKTHROUGH" comes soon. Mangrove jacks mature at quite large sizes, and quite often anything smaller than 2 or 3 kg isn't sexually mature. So if broodstock fish need to be collected, i feel "the sooner the better" if projects need to get off the ground. most inshore jacks aren't sexually mature(not always) due to the size and age factor and the fact that the offshore movement of larger fish is evident.
Possibly fishing groups could start a project along the coast , and collect broodstock mangrove jacks and have these fish available to government groups/hatcheries/universities and to make it a priority project. There is a massive call for mangrove jacks in impoundments, and personally i reckon if we produce the broodstock now, they will have time to mature in captivity and be ready for use in the coming years. I have helped kick start the Gladstone Hatchery with jack, many other fisherman have since added to the collection. This has allowed broodstock to be available to fulfill hatchery needs. Some of these fish are now well over 6 kg. Awoonga has had about 8 or 10 000 jack released(locally spawned) compared to over 2 million barra fingerlings. Its a far cry i know, but jack have been caught in Awoonga from these past releases.
NOT 100 % SURE ON THE FACTS/FIGURES I PRODUCED
, BUT I'M SURE YOU WILL FIND IT IS QUITE CLOSE TO THE TRUTH!
Reguards
John Mitchell,
Gladstone
FEEDBACK WELCOME......

[shappas]

um excuse us
but i thought mangrove jacks could only live in salt water
so can they live in fresh water and adapt a bit like the bream up around colleges crossing upper brissy river

thanks

[ste]

Yes Tinaroo and Aplins Weir in Townsville have legal Jacks - Twin Cities Fishstocking Society in Townsville have a permit which is held by DPI to stock 6,500 mangrove jacks per year for 3 years

[Louis]

I'm currious to know if the jacks would ever be able to take hold out at Wivenhoe these days?

Fork-tailed catfish appear to be in plague proportions and some of them are quite large fish?

Would the catfish quickly eat up any small Mangrove Jack fry that were released?

What is everyone's opinion on this?



Louis

[Fitzy]

I'm currious to know if the jacks would ever be able to take hold out at Wivenhoe these days?

Fork-tailed catfish appear to be in plague proportions and some of them are quite large fish?

Would the catfish quickly eat up any small Mangrove Jack fry that were released?

What is everyone's opinion on this?



Louis

Yes there are forkies in Big W, but the bass dont seem to have any problems growing & surviving in the place.
No there isnt as many bass as its sister lake, Somerset, but it is over twice the size & since the underhanded way that SIP funds were chanelled away from larger lakes, it is never going to get the stocking density it deserves. In saying that, there is still lots of bass to be found in Big W, just gotta work out where they are.

Jacks would be far better in Big W, both for a greater reward for the angler who puts in the effort & Jacks grow bigger & would eat more tilapia, forkies, banded grunter ..........

Here's a pic from the BASS electric convention recently.