time for some tuna knowledge

[johhno]

peter and i nabbed a couple of metre plus longtails out of the shallows up at inskip this morning...lovely fish

[Voltzy]

Well Johnno, I'm sure everyone is thinking it, but thats a bloody nice yellowfin tuna on fly!! [smiley=2thumbsup.gif] I bet you were sore after that.

Voltz

[Maxg]

For the record tuna are blue/green dichromats they see blue green colours. Which means they aren't seeing red, or anything but mixtures of blue and green. Effectivly this is a sort of blue grey scale which means that bright flies, like fluoro white or chartruse are pretty good.
If you want to find out what kind of world they live in, wrap a blue hunk of plasyic over your eyes and look at a really good flower garden. Pretty drab view.
But they do have cones, for colour and rods, for grey scale in their eye.
Most pelagics are blue/green dichromats, like MahiMahi, etc.
Thats not a bad tunny at all, on a fly outfit. max

[Maxg]

PS, if tuna have selective hearing, to which frequencies are they sensitive. They, like ALL fishes have a averaging hearing system, like humans, and they hear a hell of a lot of noises. Mind you they also have a lateral line which is sensitive to very low frequencies, more like pressure changes than sound. A boat on the surface is a black blob as far as fishes looking up at it are concerned, since it is in contrast against the light source, the water surface, which is why baitfish bolt under boats to hide in the black blob. The bottom colour is irrelevant.
If you knew what the frequencies were it would be a simple matter to generate the right sounds and have tunny leaping all over your boat. If you want a tranducer capable of producing a wind range of sound underwater, I've got one going spare, like $300 cash. Ex a very specialised sound system from the 80's designed to attract tunny and do many other funny things.
All you need to drive it is a amplifier and a source of sound. Its a pretty low impedance though. Also have a hydrophone designed to hear sounds underwater. Cheers Max

[Dr_Shane_Griffiths]

G'day All,

Just thought I'd post a message considering I am the guy running the CSIRO inshore tuna project that so many people are "a little suspect of".

To set the record straight, my work has no intention of developing a commercial fishery for longtail tuna. This has been stated clearly in every presentation that I have given at flyfishing club meetings in SE Qld. On the topic of commercial fishing for longtails, they are not a cost effective target in Australia, due to their behaviour and meat quality compared to other tunas.

I'd also like to quash roumours that the new longline processing plant in Brisbane was NOT built to serve a dedicated longtail tuna fishery in Moreton Bay. As far as canned tuna goes, those who attended my seminars would have heard me explain that no Australian longtail tuna are used for canning, particularly for SAFCOL. Although SAFCOL is an Australian company, I have been informed by the company's reps that it imports 100% of its longtail from Thailand, which is recieved already canned! By the way the catch is nearly exclusively comprised of juveniles.

The aim of the study is to know more about the biology and ecology of inshore tunas and understand exactly what role they play in the ecosystem. Since this study is a pilot with a very tiny budget it's important that this study gets some results to convince funding agencies that a more comprehensive study is required. This is where satellite tagging and really cool stuff can be undertaken with more $$$.

As many of you guys know, I've been showing up to tuna fly comps and fly fishing club meetings for a while now and although people want us to find the answers, noone is willing to help with our work. All we ask for is each person at some stage to donate 1 fish to us. I personally provide a 24hr/7days pick up service to anyone who wants to contribute. I also offer prizes of t-shirts and original illustrations by acclimed fish artist Bernard Yau (see his work in Modern Fishing), and the cost to you is zero. (By the way those people who have already contributed will recieve their award when they become available). I understand that most flyfishers are strictly catch and release but what happens to those tail-wrapped fish? The response to our work has been really dissapointing so far, I have actually been forced to catch most tuna myself, much to the disgust of onlooking flyfishers. However, I do thank those guys from the Hervey Bay Tuna comp who donated a few fish.

Basically, you guys have nothing to be "suspect" of. We are merely studying species that we know nothing about. We have to start some time. If stocks of these species crashed for some reason prior to doing research, then we are likely to be blamed for not acting quickly enough. Seems like a catch 22. I hope some of you realise that our work can help ensure the long-term sustainability of this resource that so many of you depend on for enjoyment. Again I thank anyone who has participated and I encourage everyone to participate. Feel free to contact me for any details on 07 3826 7364 or email shane.griffiths@csiro.au

Regards,

Shane.

[lordy]

Are you after dead fish or live fish for tracking? Tell us a little more about the research.

[Doctor_Bait]

Can someone explain to me what damage could be done by helping out the CSIRO? Do you think that Greenseas or SAFCOL are not aware of the presence of tuna in Moreton Bay? I don't understand the suspicion.

If you do have questions then try emailing Shane and asking them. There's a post on this forum called "Toona Research" you can read that and I'll quote Shane from it saying Our interest in these species IS NOT for commercial fisheries benefit and also We are primarily interested in ensuring the sustainability of all fish stocks
The research needs to be done and the CSIRO is the best organisation to do it. By helping Shane out, you'll hopefully be helping the fishery.

As a footnote, yes I do know Shane but I'm no parrot and these are my own views.

[Jack_Lives_Here]

Tell you why Dr Bait - from a previous experience with a so called "research / study" last year, I and many others that got stung, certainly won't be in any hurry to help out on another "project", no matter how good the cause.
The research on the other project was supposedly to monitor species growth etc etc since the bans on netting in that area. The Federal Govt. said thanks for that, we'll have that and are now using it against the very rec fishos that gathered the data in the first place [smiley=furious2.gif] [smiley=furious2.gif]
What's to stop the same happening with this project????????????????????????????????????????

I'm sure Shane has been on the level with his intended outcomes BUT that data once gathered is there for the taking from higher authorities, to use how they wish - ISN"T IT???

[Doctor_Bait]

I can't guarantee that the findings from this study wont be used in the same way.
I don't like taking fish and I have alot of admiration for tuna. I think that all of us want the tuna to always be here, but I also understand that we can't protect a species we realistically know little about.

[Jack_Lives_Here]

Getting on and giving people a spray won't do the project an ounce of good either. > > >