Jump to content

Feral Fish Hunter River


Jiggy

Recommended Posts

Just looking at the Fishing World site and they are reporting that a Newcastle angler caught a Japanese Sea Bass in the Hunter river, on fly, in the last couple of weeks. They have pictures and it's a pretty solid fish. It could have been transported in ballast water but the article states that others have been caught there and there may be a breeding population.  If so they would be a fish to target. From what I've read they pull hard and are pretty good on the plate.

And as ferals they need to go, who knows what problems they will cause for local fish species. That's if they have established a colony in the Hunter/Central Coast area.

Cheers

Rob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, rickmarlin62 said:

Scales are too small   head shapes wrong  not mulloway  just doubtin where it was caught

Plus wrong tail shape.

I wonder if its one of those fish the Buddhists' release, like the barramundi that was caught in Sydney Harbour a while back? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bit of a strange one. has general shape of Mulloway, yet has protruding lower jaw like a Teraglin, as already pointed out tail is wrong for either species and 2nd dorsal fin also has a concave shape other than being flat.. Think it would come down to spine count or something similar for proper identity.

I will leave this one to the experts and will be keen to hear a final result with a name.

Frank

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went and had a look at some other angles of the same picture. That fish is not a Teraglin or a mulloway. Are there any fish markets nearby. It might be the same story as the Sydney Barra although the enviroment is more suited to keep these fish alive unlike Barra in Sydney so who knows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Donna; I wasn't sure if a link to the article was allowed. I really hope that this is a hoax cause it could be the beginning of a problem. I think they would compete with jewies for food which is the last thing they need.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hey it's Ben Hall and I caught the Japanese Sea Bass on fly in Newcastle Harbour on the 13/02/2020.

The fish was caught on 20lb tippet. It weighed 27lbs and measured 113cms.

I have fished the Newcastle Harbour all my life and I've never heard of a Japanese Sea Bass. The Australian Museum contacted me to let me know that there were only 2 other recorded captures of Japanese Sea Bass in Australia and they were in Sydney in the 1980's.

My rare catch has put me into contact with Professor's, Researchers and fellow Anglers. 

The DPI sent a Courier to collect a fin clipping for DNA testing. The results came back confirming that it was indeed a Japanese Sea Bass. 

I am donating the carcass to the Australian Museum after I get it taxidermed (he only uses the skin). I have asked the Australian Museum to remove the Otoliths and give them to the DPI so they can age the fish.

 

Here is the email from the DPI confirming that it was a Japanese Sea Bass. 20200220_224653.thumb.jpg.ca7e812778e562c3a2565ecd5ef19f0c.jpg

Edited by Ben Hall
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Ben Hall said:

Hey it's Ben Hall and I caught the Japanese Sea Bass on fly in Newcastle Harbour on the 13/02/2020.

The fish was caught 20lb tippet. It weighed 27lbs and measured 113cms.

I have fished the Newcastle Harbour all my life and I've never heard of a Japanese Sea Bass. The Australian Museum contacted me to let me know that there were only 2 other recorded captures of Japanese Sea Bass in Australia and they were in Sydney in the 1980's.

My rare catch has put me into contact with Professor's, Researchers and fellow Anglers. 

The DPI sent a Courier to collect a fin clipping for DNA testing. The results came back confirming that it was indeed a Japanese Sea Bass. 

I am donating the carcass to the Australian Museum after I get it taxidermed (he only uses the skin). I have asked the Australian Museum to remove the Otoliths and give them to the DPI so they can age the fish.20200220_224653.thumb.jpg.ca7e812778e562c3a2565ecd5ef19f0c.jpg

Throw up a photo of you and the fish

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Ben Hall said:

Hey it's Ben Hall and I caught the Japanese Sea Bass on fly in Newcastle Harbour on the 13/02/2020.

The fish was caught on 20lb tippet. It weighed 27lbs and measured 113cms.

I have fished the Newcastle Harbour all my life and I've never heard of a Japanese Sea Bass. The Australian Museum contacted me to let me know that there were only 2 other recorded captures of Japanese Sea Bass in Australia and they were in Sydney in the 1980's.

My rare catch has put me into contact with Professor's, Researchers and fellow Anglers. 

The DPI sent a Courier to collect a fin clipping for DNA testing. The results came back confirming that it was indeed a Japanese Sea Bass. 

I am donating the carcass to the Australian Museum after I get it taxidermed (he only uses the skin). I have asked the Australian Museum to remove the Otoliths and give them to the DPI so they can age the fish.

 

Here is the email from the DPI confirming that it was a Japanese Sea Bass. 20200220_224653.thumb.jpg.ca7e812778e562c3a2565ecd5ef19f0c.jpg

That's awesome mate. Great that you have cleared up a lot of the debate, confusion & opinions. As others mentioned, it will be interesting if its a one off...but I guess that's highly unlikely.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Hey Guys,

The DPI have issued an update on this:

Fisheries Researchers Solve Sea Bass Mystery!
DPI experts have confirmed a mystery fish caught near Newcastle in February by keen fly fisherman Ben Hall was indeed a Japanese sea bass (Lateolabrax japonicus).
Examination of the fish, including analysing its otoliths  by DPI and other experts at the Australian Museum and Fish Ageing Laboratory at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, have revealed the sea bass was six years of age and was a female.
 
Measuring 113cm and weighing 12.53kg (27.63lb) the fish is more than twice the weight and length of sea bass of a similar age studied by fisheries scientists in their home waters of the Western Pacific. In fact, Ben’s sea bass has been described by DPI experts as being “exceptional in both size and growth rates”. As it turns out, it’s only just off the IGFA All Tackle record, a fish which weighed in at 28lb 15oz! Japanese sea bass – known as “suzuki” in Japan – are protandrous hermaphrodites, reaching sexual maturity as males at about two years of age and then changing into females as they become older.
 
Ben caught his sea bass early in the morning on 13 February while targeting mulloway on fly in the Hunter River at Newcastle. He initially tagged and tried to release it. Discovering it was unsuitable for release, he kept it and put up a post on his Facebook page.
 
Not surprisingly, the fish created something of a social media storm. It also attracted considerable interest in the scientific community, with the upshot being that Ben very kindly agreed to donate the frame to the Australian Museum and DPI for analysis and study.
Prior to that, Ben arranged for the fish to be taxidermied and it now holds pride of place on the wall at his home!
 
DPI understands that small numbers of Japanese sea bass have previously been recorded in Sydney Harbour, with speculation that they may have been transported as fry or larvae in ship ballast water. At this stage, it is uncertain how the fish Ben caught ended up in the Hunter River.
Regardless, it is an amazing catch which Ben will likely remember for the rest of his life!
That said, there are always biosecurity concerns associated with reports such as this. If you encounter any suspicious fish or other aquatic species, please contact the Animal Disease Emergency Hotline on 1800 675 888.
 
 Given that this was a big female I hope she didn't get a chance to breed. At least one comment on the facebook page mentioned that they think they have caught one in the Hunter. I dunno but I hope not, they are good on the chew and pull hard, but we don't need another case of rabbits. Marine rabbits anyway.
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...