Gladstone Fish Health Investigation 2011 - 2012 - Western Basin ...

Commercial fishing effort for mullet in the Gladstone region (days fished with mullet catchrecorded) has varied since 2000, with a general downward trend. Effort in 2012 was thelowest recorded since 2000 (96 days) and is approximately a quarter of the effort recorded in2000 (451 days) (Figure 26). The number of fishers catching mullet during this period hasalso dropped from a peak in 2001 (30 fishers) to lows in 2012 (7 fishers). Although the catchand number of fishers has decreased, the catch per day fished (76.3kg/day) is aboveaverage for the period (62.3 kg/day) and is the fourth highest catch rate for the period.Days500450400350300250200150100500Commercial effort (days fished) for mullet in the Gladstone region2000 - 20112000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012YearFigure 26. The number of days fishing where commercial fishers have reported mullet catch from theGladstone region (CFish grid S30), as reported in commercial fisher logbooks (calendar years 2000 –2012).Observational findings Phase 1Between September 2011 and January 2012, approximately 149 mullet caught bycommercial fishers were examined for external signs of ill health both within Gladstone andat the reference sites. The majority of these fish were caught in Rodds Bay and theBundaberg area.All mullet caught at reference sites (37 fish) were observed to be in good condition, while 15of 112 fish caught within the Gladstone area were observed to have some abnormal skinconditions. These observations were made from a single catch each at Rodds Bay (13 of 40mullet) and Calliope River (2 of 2 mullet) (Figure 27).48