Crystal Bowl | Better fishing today

CAIRNS VENUS TUSKFISH 2018

Venus Tuskfish are a prized food species and the second most targeted offshore species in gladstone.

  • Overview

    Overview

    Crystal Bowl GBR is aiming to examine 3 core measures across a wide range of species in the region:

    • Fishing experience (how many fish per trip)
    • Quality of the fish (size of fish)
    • Community attitudes (number of legal size fish kept or released)

     

    Fishing Experience

    • Qld Fisheries Boat Ramp Surveys reports catch rate of 0.3 fish/fisher/day
    • Cairns ranked 11th in the state for Venus Tuskfish Catch Rates
    • No commercial data available

     

    Quality of the Fish

    • 2017 Qld Fisheries Boat Ramp Surveys 390 mm (single reported fish)
    • Cairns ranked 1st in the State for size of Venus Tuskfish however, due to the small sample size, this ranking is unreliable
    • 2017 Qld Fisheries Boat Ramp Surveys average fish sizes are the best among northern locations.

     

    Community Attitudes

    • The single fish reported in 2017 was kept
    • Cairns is ranked 11th in the state for the number of fish released 

     

  • Assessment

    Limited catch data

    Venus Tuskfish do not appear significantly in commercial or recreational catch records. No assessment can be made on available data but we advise moderation and taking only what is needed for immediate consumption.

     

  • Forecast

    Forecast

    Not enough data is available to make a forecast.

     

  • Qld FIsheries Boat Ramp Surveys 

    Monitoring of Recreational Catch by Qld Fisheries

    Queensland Fisheries monitors boat ramps up and down the coast as a part of the Sustainable Fisheries Strategy. Fishers in Cairns report catching Venus Tuskfish with most being kept. Monitoring began in 2017 and continues in 2018.

    • Venus Tuskfish was not commonly reported in Cairns in 2017, ranking 34th
    • The length of the single fish reported was 390mm
    • Fishers reported an overall catch rate of 0.3 fish/fisher/day
    • The single fish reported in 2017 was kept

     

    Qld Fisheries Boat Ramp Surveys monitoring dashboard

     

  • Sportfishers

    Local Sportfishers

    Venus Tuskfish are targeted by sportfishers for much the same reason as other groups - take home for a feed. As sportfishers practice catch and release for their key estuary targets, offshore represents the opportunity to bring back a feed of fish for the family.

    • NOTE OFFSHORE DATA IS STILL UNDER REVIEW, UPDATES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN APRIL.

     

     

    A snapshot of Sportfisher catch data is available:

    Local Sportfishers

     

  • Recruitment

    Monitoring of Venus Tuskfish Recruitment

    No data is available currently on Venus Tuskfish Recruitment.

     

  • Monitoring

    Monitoring of Venus Tuskfish

    Data for this assessment has been sourced from:

    • Bureau of Meterology
    • Local Sportfisher / Suntaggers
    • Queensland Fisheries

    Here are links to all the monitoring pages for Venus Tuskfish:


    Local Sportfishers
    Carins Queensland Fisheries Boat Ramp Surveys

  • Fishing Area

    Area Assessed

    Offshore assessments of Qld Fisheries Boat Ramp data are based on ramp of origin, destination is recorded in broad general regions. Some offshore traffic likely extends offshore of Port Douglas.  Commercial catches have been assessed directly out of Cairns H16/17-P16/17.