New data from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies shows recreational fishing is on the rise in Tasmania. But one species, sand flathead, is still too popular for its own good. Authorities are considering breeding the fish in a hatchery to help restore wild stocks.
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00:00School holiday fishing at Margate in the state's south.
00:06Omar and his daughter Sienna are among many casting a line.
00:10It's good to get out, especially on days like this,
00:13and it's the outdoors and my daughter's experience,
00:19so hopefully when she gets older she can bring the kids along
00:22and she learns one or two things from me.
00:25A five-yearly survey by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
00:29released today providing a snapshot of recreational fishing
00:33and what people are catching.
00:35The participation rate has increased,
00:37with the biggest growth coming from young people.
00:40The Institute's latest survey results show 130,000 Tasmanians
00:45are recreational fishers and sand flathead is still the most caught species,
00:50making up half of the total catch.
00:53That popularity led authorities to introduce smaller catch limits
00:57for flathead last year.
00:59It's too soon to tell if that's making a difference.
01:03We are monitoring the stocks closely around the state,
01:06and again through state and federal money we've been able to ramp up
01:09those efforts to keep a really close eye on how things are going
01:12and hopefully early next year we'll have the first report.
01:15The state government's spending $1.2 million
01:18to help restore depleted stocks.
01:21All of us grew up catching sand flathead
01:23and we don't want the next generation to miss out on that opportunity.
01:26IMAS is investigating the use of a marine hatchery facility
01:30to breed flathead and release them into the wild.
01:33There may also be some potential to get some faster growing fish
01:37from areas that have been lightly fished and breed them up
01:40and put them into areas that have had a lot more fishing effort,
01:42like the south east, to have faster growing fish in those areas.
01:47Working to keep future generations hooked on flathead.
01:53For more UN videos visit www.un.org