Gaint Cod in the News??

[Daryl McPhee]

Looks to me like a Queensland Groper. I.D aside. Ciguatera for dinner anyone?

[Scott nthQld]

I've sent off an email to the DPI asking for a please explain, I don't care how many (if any) people want to glorify this capture, remarkable though it is, if the ID is correct and it is a Qld Groper, something should be done, rules are there for a reason (well most of the time anyway) and everyone has to obey them, imagine if it were you or I with the fish and get pulled up at the ramp by DPI, we'd be fined hardcore, might even serve jail time (protected, threatened species and all), and commercial guys would be even worse off than us. If the fish does indeed get officially ID'd as a QG, I sencerely hope that the DPI make an example out of this bloke and I hope that there is something that can be done about the Newspaper's and TV news pinning this bloke up as a hero, condoning the slaughter of a protected species, after all, they do have the onus to make sure their information is correct before publishing in any media format available to the public.

[Sandman]

I wouldnt go that far Scott , could be a case of mistaken identity. But as a note for such a large fish why keep it when they taste like crap way to oily.

[kc]

Ignorance is bliss.....saw it live and couldn't believe my eyes. Yes 100% Qld Groper and then channel 9 is dumb enough to give it a run

KC

[Scott nthQld]

I wouldnt go that far Scott , could be a case of mistaken identity. But as a note for such a large fish why keep it when they taste like crap way to oily.

I didn't go that far in the email, I have included the link to the article, asking for a positive ID and giving them my opinion on what species it is, I've also asked them to advise me on what the 'official' ID is and if it is a QG, what are they going to do about it.

Personally I'm not expecting anything to come of it, with my experience with the DPI they are more often than not, your typical lazy Govt employee, except this mob gets to buzz around in a boat every now and then. In short, I've pretty much lost confidence in everything that has anything to do with the Govt.

[coastrunner]

How old would it be?
Why would you keep it...

[Sandman]

How old would it be?
Why would you keep it...

If its a groper i imagine its a young fellow they get larger than that , i think they grow to 300kg around that mark maybe abit under ? I have seen one caught over in PNG that was landed by handline , have a photo but its on slide so i cant post it. Actually in the back of my old mans truck , it fed the locals - no laws over there regarding groper. But it took up over the back of toyota landcruiser with the tray down... Big fish.

[FNQCairns]

i don't have the experience to call it one way or another but is it a QLD groper? the bloke has a cold room at his residence? is he a pro? (just a stab in the dark).
How deep is their definition of deep sea? What other "deep sea" fish could be similar to a QLD groper?

It's a big fish alright and fecundity does not just amount to the presence or number of eggs etc the eggs need to be geneticly viable.

I wonder where the QLD groper stands on the purely biological side of it all.

Why 'officially' is it a no take species?

cheers fnq

[Sandman]

The species grows to at least 2.7 m in length and over 400 kg. It is one of the largest bony fishes, and is the largest on coral reefs.

[marty+jojo]

I saw it on the news and thought it looked like a qld groper, it had yellow fins, and correct me if i'm wrong i thought all cod over 1.2mtrs are protected.
Marty.

[bushweek]

if it is a qld groper shouldnt he be slammed with a fine???? i wouldnt of kept the fish just on the amazement of what a beats of a creature it is and how long its lived for

[Flex]

I think it's disgusting anyone would keep such a large majestic animal.
Its probably over 50y old, who knows??

As mentioned above, I thought all cod above 1.2m were protected?

As to whether it would have survived, if any of you have ever caught a cod, they live forever when taken out of the water, they are tough as nails.

The woman on the TV report said it was 2hours to catch it, and 30mins to get it in the boat, why wouldn't you just let it go if you couldn't lift it.

I have personally seen a massive QLD groper at cape york, It's residence is in 4m of water off a rocky headland.Often see him just sun baking and we sometimes mistake him for a croc.A rough measure put him around the 2m long mark. The deepest water within 120km is 25m. So they are not really a deepwater fish at all.

[-spiro-]

my way of thinking is what a w@nker for taking it. Imagine how old that beast would be???????? It could of been over a hunderd years old.
I catch and eat fish but i don't agree with this!

[Gator]

Director of News at Channel Nine has confirmed that Fisheries have contacted them for the details and following up on it!
He also expressed that he would like Fisheries to report back to Channel Nine so they can do a follow up story on the outcome!

[finding_time]

Yep Qld groper for me! And the other 3 fishos i've spoken to today that saw the story! The Fisherman in question said it was destined for the barbie, i wonder if there will be banjo music playing in the background????

Ian