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Hi there
Was wondering if anyone knew of any waters near to Gympie that have confirmed catches of either Carp or Tilapia. I used to fish both these species as a Kid growing up in South Africa and am itching to see how much worse my skills have become over the last ten years. I know they are noxious here so they wont be stocked anywhere (unless by mistake). If not in my area, how far would I have to go to find them?
David
I haven't heard of tilapia or carp in the Gympie area.
Dams with tilapia in are Sommerset, Whivenoe & Samsonvale.
At this stage I beleive that Borumba dam has so far not been infected by both those species.
Luc
Fortunately its not possible to stock noxious fish such as carp and tilapia 'by mistake' ;) as it is illegal to have them in your possession and the fines are quite harsh.
Mate with species like saratoga and bass in borumba dam why would you want to target anything else. I have caught numberous tilapia and lb for lb bass are a better opposition as they are a smarter fighter.
I'm after the Tilapia more for the eating...... Would love to fish Borumba but I dont have a boat and from what I remember last time I was up there for a look it is only a section around 200m of shoreline that you can access and there were people swimming and carrying on - (That was a couple of years ago mind you.)
Isnt it illegal to have any Tilapia in your possesion ? :-/
Cheers
James
As far as i can tell taking the fillets away with you as long as the rest of ths fish is disposed of properly is okay. They can be awesome fun on light tackle.
The intent of the law under the Fisheries Act regarding having noxious fish in your possession is to prevent the introduction of new species and diseases.
I agree with Gympie_Guy's comment that you should be ok to have Tilapia fillets in your possession as obviously they don't pose much of a threat.
Actually I'm pretty sure I have seen frozen Tilapia for sale in freezzers in China Town (Brisbane), although that doesn't prove its legal ;)
The above comments are made in good faith, no suing me if I'm wrong :D
I believe Tilapia are a wasted resource and should be harvested commercially by licensed operators.
I guess the down side to this would be that if Australians ever found out how delicious they are, it would be likely to lead to people transporting them and stocking them in their local areas.
At some point in time when the waterways are are fully exploited by Tilapia, the government will have to introduce some controls to reduce damage to the natural environment.
This occurred many years (decades) ago down south with carp. Commercial harvesters were licensed to harvest carp by the selective means of "electro-fishing". Since carp are basically not a marketable species here, they went for pet food. However, unlike carp,Tilapia are an excellent table fish and could be a welcome addition to our diminishing supplies of local native species.
Following is a #promotional #link to a site that sells "electro-fishing" equipment.
There are a couple of videos that are worth watching.
Please bear in mind that electro fishing is strictly illegal in Australia except for licensed commercial operators. And of course it is potentially deadly in the wrong hands. But used properly it allows commercial operators to selectively harvest a particular species on a grand scale without harm to other species or the environment.
http://www.electro-fisher.com/How_to...rofishing.html