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Scott nthQld
18-09-2008, 03:19 PM
Regarding the rules about tilapia, how owuld you deal with them when fishing in the fresh from a boat?

You aren't allowed to have them in possession and you are supposed to dispose of them away from the water upon capture, yet how are you supposed to do this on a boat?

How would one go in the situation that having caught several tilapia and kept them on board to dispose of later, given that it is also an offence to release the fish, and you get pulled up by fisheries? Would you get done for being in possession of the fish, or would they take them off your hands for you to make sure they are disposed of properly?

A very grey area, you can't throw them back, you can't have any in possession, yet being on a boat, you can't readily dispose of them properly until later, where would we stand?

ronnien
18-09-2008, 03:31 PM
scott,

throw them on the floor & let them die, than toss them up on the bank.
i think the fisheys would be pretty hard up if they were going to do you.

ron.

oldboot
18-09-2008, 03:50 PM
The government litritature specificaly ststes you should not leave them on the bank.

They are suposed to be mouth brooders and the eggs & fry or whatever can remain viable in in the dead fish for quite some time.
So the water level rises or it rains and washes the fish back in the water or a bird tries to take the fish and drops it back in the water and away it all goes again.

I recon the solution would be a big hobart mincer ( with a 12v conversion) mounted on a 20 l bucket.


seriously the possesion thing is aimed at the types who would keep them as pets.

as long as the bugger was dead and you intention was clear I don't think an inspector would zipp you.........and considering the various provisions........once you have caught it you are responsible for it.

You cant let it go......... and the rules tell you what to do with it....." dispose of away from water".

cheers

disorderly
18-09-2008, 04:01 PM
There's a good little article about them on page 2 of this months nq fish and boat mag...

The author raises some interesting points regarding allowing them to be used for human consumption and the effect this may have on reducing their numbers....

Regarding the Mozambique mouthbrooder,he also mentions that they are very rare and that they are unlikely to feed if they have eggs in their mouth anyway,thus meaning you are not likely to catch them at that time.

This issue really warrants serious investigation by the powers that be so as to find a way to stop their spread or at least reduce their numbers.

Scott

ronnien
18-09-2008, 06:02 PM
maybe put them in a bag & throw them in the bin when you get home.

ron.

disorderly
18-09-2008, 07:41 PM
maybe put them in a bag & throw them in the bin when you get home.

ron.

I have not tasted them myself..neither will I with a freezer full of Trout, nannies,spanish and a variety of other reef fish but from what I can ascertain, the Tilapia are a very good eating fish and are commercially raised in pond culture in some Asian countries ...

So I think there are avenues to explore that may include lowering their numbers and providing a food source as well.

Scott

tunaticer
18-09-2008, 07:55 PM
Take a garbage bag in your boat and throw the tilapia in the bag and let it sit in full sun, will quickly kill off anything inside. Dispose of as soon as you find a suitable garbage bin near the ramp.

Jack.

Luc
18-09-2008, 08:05 PM
The trouble with promoting 'for human consumption' is that it will encourage some to spread them around some more.

Luc

disorderly
18-09-2008, 08:10 PM
The trouble with promoting 'for human consumption' is that it will encourage some to spread them around some more.

Luc

Problem is Luc they are already along the entire qld coast as well as many impoundments .

For those that are unfamialiar with them check out this link...

http://sweetwaterfishing.com.au/tilapia.htm

ronnien
18-09-2008, 08:38 PM
disorderly,

dont think i could bring myself to eat one. rather eat a cattie, lol, but like you said with a freezer full of reef fish! the first tilapia i have seen was when i was 8, thats 30 years ago. used to go down to the drain opening at the end of my street & catch silver pearch & than these things started to show up, in the end they were the only fish there.

ron.

disorderly
18-09-2008, 09:20 PM
Dont knock the old catties,Ron...;);D

I ate plenty of fried crispy skinned eel tailed catties caught on the family property as a kid in North Western NSW...also ate wild rabbit, pig,duck,pigeon and even 'roo on occasion...:-/

I'm surprised you didn't cook up a Tilapia just to see how they tasted....you may have been surprised...

I still think the only real way to eradicate such a pest (at least without biological control methods or poisoning the waterways) is to either place a bounty on them,turn them into fertilizer (ie Charlie Carp liquid fertilizer) or eat them...gee they would have to be better than imported Vietnamese catfish (Basa),wouldn't they???

For us fisho's who have access to primo top shelf ocean dwelling fish, then we wouldn't bother, but for kids and the majority of landlubbers than a fresh feed of Tilapia may not be such a bad thing???.

Sometimes taste is very much just a personal perception thing as I recently found out myself when I dined on some golden trevally...a fish which I had always released with the thought that trevally was an inferior eating fish...

In actual fact I was quite impressed how palatable it actually was and have since eaten it again and still enjoyed it...

I've even heard of some blokes that have eaten bludger trevally and enjoyed it;);D(yes you know who you are....;)::)).

Scott

ronnien
18-09-2008, 09:27 PM
funny you should say that, here in t'ville they have a kids fishing comp for them in the louisa creek (mt louisa), they catch heaps, also have seen some very big ones (around 2kg ) in the lakes.

ron.

disorderly
18-09-2008, 09:32 PM
funny you should say that, here in t'ville they have a kids fishing comp for them in the louisa creek (mt louisa), they catch heaps, also have seen some very big ones (around 2kg ) in the lakes.

ron.

Gee,that's a great idea,Ron, they must be pretty thick down there,though...wow...2kg is a pretty decent sized fish:o.

What do they do with them once caught???

ronnien
18-09-2008, 09:44 PM
i think they put them into a wheele bin, yeah pretty big tilapia in the lakes.
when chasing bait with the castnet i get a few big ones they look alot different to the little ones.next time i am down there will get a pic for you.

ron.

disorderly
18-09-2008, 10:04 PM
It's interesting Ron...I do a bit of fishing with the kids in some of the local small clearwater creeks here and catch all the usual suspects but so far no Tilapia...which is a good thing,though....wonder why we have not encountered any???

Scott

oldboot
18-09-2008, 10:24 PM
I know... we should tell the yellow rain coats where they are;D ;D

aparantly the trick is to roll them over both sides with a glass milk bottle befor you fillet them..... or so I have been told.......aparantly it breaks off and pushes the pin bones out......:-/


If you are into growing roses, two talapia at the bottom of the hole gives em a good start.


cheers

ronnien
19-09-2008, 01:30 PM
It's interesting Ron...I do a bit of fishing with the kids in some of the local small clearwater creeks here and catch all the usual suspects but so far no Tilapia...which is a good thing,though....wonder why we have not encountered any???

Scott

scott,

you are lucky mate the last thing you want is them in your waterway!

ron.

Luc
19-09-2008, 05:50 PM
Problem is Luc they are already along the entire qld coast as well as many impoundments .

For those that are unfamialiar with them check out this link...

http://sweetwaterfishing.com.au/tilapia.htm

Hi Disorderly,

Fully agree with you. Any decent rain that produces floods simply helps them to spread.

Still, as far as I know, Maroochy, Mooloola and Noosa rivers are still free of them.

Luc

shayned
22-09-2008, 02:53 PM
Amazing fish with characteristics which ensure they are one of the hardiest and most wide spread fresh water species in the world. The fact that the fish produces a tasty white flesh fillet and is very easy to breed in impoundments has seen mankind spread the species from the african continent to the middle east, asia, nth america, sth america and australia.

By 1999 over 800 000 tonnes of tilapia were farmed world wide per year for human consumption. I believe Tilapia now has the lion share of the retail market for fish fillets in the USA. Australia is the only continent that doesn't officially farm this fish.

The fish also can tolerate large ranges of salinity and oxygen levels, this combined with the ability for the fish to sexually mature at as small as 9cm when a population is threatened makes them very difficult to remove.

The other factor making this fish so successful is the level of fecundancy and the mouth brooding ability which ensures high survival rates for the young. A female will lay between 100 and 1700 eggs. Once fertilised, the eggs are held in the females mouth and once hatched fingerlings will take shelter in her mouth up to 3 weeks old, ensuring high survival rates. Females may be able to breed up to 4 times in a season.

Fortunately, this fish has one achilles heel, it does not tolerate low water temperatures. Overseas information suggests the Mossambicus strain we see in sth qld will die when the water temp reaches 10 degrees C. Our experience here suggests the die off kicks in from closer to 14 degrees.

There have been success stories as well on eridication although few and far between. The most noteable being from Florida, where a special set of circumstances allowed the local equivalent of our DPI to introduce a true apex predator in the form of the Peacock Bass to affected water ways. Whilst not totally removed the species is now controlled using a combination of the predator and focused fishing pressure. Incidently as a by product of this program a brand new multimillion dollar sports fishery was created, a true win win situation for the environment and anglers.

While flooding certainly spreads Tilapia, by and large the most prevalent vector is good old man. It seems we just can't help ourselves, we always want to see the water local to us full of fish.

ronnien
22-09-2008, 03:56 PM
they seem to like the salt also cause the lake here in t'ville is salt (across the road from castle town) water! & thats where i got the big ones from.
p.s. i have been catching these in a little drain since i was a kid (1978).

ron.

oldboot
22-09-2008, 04:08 PM
No lots of us know what we have read & heard about talapia...but who has some first hand accounts.

1. how do they taste and a the bones as much of a problem as we are led to believe. doo they tend to taste crappy if they are from dirty water...do they taste any better if they are from clean water.

2. what is the best way to catch them......i've heard small hooks with anything from corn cournelsand worms to solft plastics.
Do they bight better at anytime of the day.

3. who's up for a serious talapia session and where......we could have some funn and do some good.....maybe slap a few on the barbie:-/

cheers

Cammy
22-09-2008, 04:12 PM
Yer they enter salt to but i dont think they can actually live in full salt, only brakish.

On the subject of these stupid fish, where i live all the creeks are full of em except for the creek behind my house, anyway i have a mate who goes netting in one of the creeks to see what he could get and he caught a tilarpia shuved it in a half empty coke bottle with the top cut off and filled it a bit with water so it was a mix of coke and water,suprisingly it lived for bout 20 mins until he slaughtered it. These guys r tough fish!

Cam

Cammy
22-09-2008, 04:14 PM
Im up for it old boot i havent been out in bout month and a half and this wind atm is killing me cause its holiday time!

Cam

ronnien
22-09-2008, 04:16 PM
cam

the lakes have a in comming & out going tide every day, it's salt.

ron.

FNQCairns
22-09-2008, 04:25 PM
They taste good nice white flesh equal to any native freshwater fish and certainly far better than some, cannot remember the bones so they where probably not a big problem. Only eaten fish from youngs crossing but quite a few have hit the plate, we would head down to trap mosquito fish for the barra in our tank and while waiting would throw a worm on a hook under a float.

Oh yeah, good fighters too!.

cheers fnq

shayned
22-09-2008, 05:35 PM
Technique for capture varies, stick to around a no. 5 hook and either weight it for the bottom using a whiting rig or use a black fish style rig. Worms or shrimp work well for bait. The secret is the water temp. you need late spring through summer for your best bet.

While I'm still working it out I've heard people say the start of the season is better and we have only been actively targeting for 2 years so I couldn't say for sure.

They will bite anytime of the day and will respond to burley.

I have seen approx 2000 Tilapia line caught now and can say we haven't caught a female with young in her mouth yet.

Get out there and catch as many as you can, they can and will destroy a native fishery by outcompeting our local fish.

Luc
22-09-2008, 06:31 PM
Last time I fished NPD for garfish, after a while, they moved in and made it very hard to catch garfish.

Every so often a school of several hundred fish would cruise past in about a foot of water. Made me wish I had a cast net.

Luc

Cammy
22-09-2008, 08:44 PM
Your right ron, Well they can live in salt, soon theyl be in our estuarys and everywhere!. Apparently these fish are the fish that jesus multiplied to feed the masses of people back in the day.

Cam

shayned
23-09-2008, 09:23 AM
Last time I fished NPD for garfish, after a while, they moved in and made it very hard to catch garfish.

Every so often a school of several hundred fish would cruise past in about a foot of water. Made me wish I had a cast net.

Luc

I know what you mean mate, when we were doing the last gar collection day for the translocation one of the guys just kept catching Tilapia after Tilapia. Where he was set up ended up with a school of tilapia camping out front of him. He ended up having to move.

Once they are on, its hard to catch anything else. A mates two kids pulled about 250 between them at one of the tilapia target days.

Gyarados
11-01-2011, 07:34 PM
bring on the peacock bass. amazing fish that will help get rid of em and give us an awesome fish to track down.

rayken1938
11-01-2011, 07:59 PM
Got 3 buckets of them last week at NPD.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff255/rayke1938/P1010786640x480-1.jpg
Cheers
Ray

ifish86
11-01-2011, 09:00 PM
yea i caught a couple of these in bulimba creek at wishart recently, small hooks and no weight on bread and also earthworms i didnt know wat it was so realised it kickn myself now. might have to cut off the heads and see if the crabs like em

Lovey80
11-01-2011, 09:36 PM
I was in NY a few months back and saw a local fisho with a sign out the front saying "Tilapia Fillets $8.99kg" I nearly choked!