Anglers report lowest numbers of King George whiting in decades
Whiting are not biting and anglers and experts are split on what’s happened to the popular fish. Calm weather and a ban on another prestige species are being blamed for the low numbers.
SA News
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Some of South Australia’s most experienced recreational fishers say numbers of King George whiting have been the lowest they’ve seen in metropolitan waters for decades.
Sunday Mail fishing writer Jon Huie is among many bitterly disappointed at the lack of our iconic fish.
“The fishing off Adelaide has been the worst we have ever experienced. There’s hardly any whiting around,” he said.
Mr Huie said low storm activity through winter could be a factor, as they brought whiting closer to the coast and strong winds stirred up the ocean floor to provide them with more feed.
Mr Huie said his personal network of 25 “trusted and honest contacts”, boat fishers with 30-40 years of experience, and even local tackle shops had confirmed the lack of whiting along the metropolitan coast.
But he did say “things are starting to improve” with the shift into spring.
The stock status of King George whiting in the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island was downgraded from “sustainable” to “transitional depleting” in 2014 and has not recovered.
SA Research and Development Institute scientists do all the stock assessment work but the latest one for King George whiting is dated 2016.
Primary Industries and Regions SA would not allow the Sunday Mail to interview SARDI scientists and did not provide an official response.
The Bureau of Meteorology said it did not tally numbers of storm fronts or their intensity, but a spokeswoman confirmed a range of factors suggested there were “fewer-than-average cold fronts over SA during winter 2020”.
RecFish SA chairman Mick Wilson said there could be fewer whiting, or just more fishers going after them since a snapper ban was introduced, with greater competition leading to lower catches per boat.
“It could be a drop in population. It could also be a shift in focus for target species from snapper to whiting, which is obviously the next prestige fish we have here,” he said.
The State Government is pressing ahead with plans to allow fishing in sanctuary zones, including critical nursery areas for whiting in the Clinton Wetlands Sanctuary Zone of the Upper Gulf St Vincent Marine Park. Meanwhile, the $24.5m marine scalefish fishery reform package is taking applications from commercial fishers who wish to surrender their licence.
So far, 44 have decided to leave the industry.
As part of this process, the government will set a total allowable commercial catch for key species.
RecFish SA board member and director Levi Nash, 40, of Glengowrie, said environmental factors, or overfishing, or both, had led to “a smaller number around”.
