Thoughts on Flathead by Craig Hedge
It may be time we valued flathead in a different way. Craig Hedge puts a robust argument for the recreational sector to take stronger ownership of the Tasmanian flathead resource. Read this article carefully and question what is real, what is science, what is the actual situation and what can be done. I believe without contradiction every Tasmanian fisher that has dropped a line in saltwater will have caught flathead. For most it will have been the first fish they ever caught. For many it is the only fish they chase. Ed
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lathead - ‘The peoples fishery’ - And the 100,000+ strong Tasmanians who have caught flathead for generations - not for ‘sport ’ - but for a feed, and as Guy Barnett recently stated himself, as an important “way of life” for Tasmanians. The way of life and the value of a feed is often overlooked or not as strongly valued perhaps by some ‘recreationals’ - and recreational representatives - who are often more aptly defined perhaps as elite recreational ‘sports’ fishers who often share very different values and seek different outcomes from that of many average everyday Tasmanians who have historically, and presently, primarily caught flathead to feed their families and support their communities. The common flathead is a fish for the common people – it’s the peoples fishery. It’s the heart and soul of most Tasmanian fishers. Even the shape of a flathead’s head is in the shape of Tasmania! “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” - Alexander Hamilton
Disclaimer This is unapologetically long, but an important one for the most historically important Tasmanian recreational fish species that isn’t getting the discussion, the respect, or the airplay it should be getting at this time.
Central topic of discussion: Tasmanian Government Brochure: Flathead Stocks What’s Happening?
My Thoughts: The brochure mentioned above should seriously concern most noncommercial Tasmanian fishers currently referred to collectively under the all-encompassing label of the ‘recreational fishers’ umbrella - as it lays blame and responsibility for the current state of the flathead fishery - the peoples fishery - squarely on the shoulders of recreational fishers. Let’s look at why and how I have come to that conclusion by directly quoting from the brochure itself: “Stock status = DEPLETING” “Recreational fishers keep over 730,000 flathead (96% are sand flathead) every year in Tasmania.” (The brochure failed to mention that Tasmanian recreationals fish responsibly for these fish in a line fishery that has negligible impact on habitat, that doesn’t destroy or constantly upset habitat, and that recreational fishers release the flathead they catch ‘alive’ with a release rate well above 50% - and in a fishery where bag limits and increased size limits have been implemented over many years now).
Google says what? And let’s just refer to Google for some information here - as a loose general guide - for some context/ perspective where currently there is very little: Dear Google: ‘How many babies can a flathead fish have?’ “Under favourable conditions, this fish could have up to five spawning events a season, which could potentially result in the production of about 31.5 million eggs annually!”
If 0.1% of these survive year on year, this single flathead has the capacity to potentially produce 30,000plus flatties each year.” I would surmise if flathead have the healthy habitat (aka ‘favourable conditions’ as mentioned above) to be able to reproduce, and if that habitat isn’t constantly destroyed and disrupted by heavy commercial netting, for generations, for example, then something is not quite adding up here. Recreationals release hundreds of thousands of flathead every year (it has been stated that flathead have been proven to reproduce at around 280mm) that are each able to reproduce up to 30,000 plus ‘little flatties’ each year. What if just 10% of those 700,000 flathead released each year by responsible recreational fishers had ‘favourable conditions’ to reproduce? That would be 70,000 reproductive fish. Let’s halve that number again to 35,000 to be even more conservative and quell any possible gender debate. The result? - Over one billion flathead!
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