Fish to stay in the Fitzroy thanks to an Australian first

Published on 26 October 2017

As the Barra Bounty competition starts, Rockhampton Regional Council is reminding all anglers, from the budding beginner to the established elite, to take a feed and not a fridgeful when enjoying the Fitzroy River. This is to ensure the competitions like the Barra Bounty can continue, that further family friendly ones can be introduced, and that our waterways can be enjoyed by generations to come.

The Rocky Barra Bounty has been running on the Fitzroy for nearly 20 years, and is known as one of the premier fishing competitions in Australia. The tag and release event was the first to introduce photographing then releasing of fish, instead of having the fish weighed or bought back to the event site.

To coincide with the competition, Council have today become the first Council in Australia to launch a fishing Voluntary Code of Practice. The code asks fishers to take an online pledge to adopt sustainable and responsible fishing practices.

These include returning larger female breeding fish to the water, reporting any illegal fishing, and taking home no more than two fish of certain species per trip.

Infofish Australia works to track the prevalence of different species, and Council have provided a grant of $10,000 to allow for real time monitoring of Barramundi and King threadfin in our waterways.

Infrastructure Committee Chair Councillor Tony Williams said it was vital that everyone plays their part.

“Council are working hard to support competitions like the Barra Bounty, and to provide Infofish with the resources they need to monitor fish stocks and help keep our wonderful waterways full of fish,” Cr Williams said.

“However it’s vital that anyone who fishes in our Region does their bit to make sure that our kids and grandkids can fish here too.

“Avoid fishing for certain species at certain times of the year, and just take what you need to make a meal – a feed not a fridgeful. That way, we can ensure our fishing is sustainable and can be enjoyed for years to come,” Cr Williams said.

More information on the Voluntary Code of Practice can be found here, and details of the Barra Bounty can be found here.

You can view the monitoring system for Barramundi here, and King threadfin here.