Thousands of baby snapper will make Gulf St Vincent their new home this week as the second release of the year gets under way to boost depleted stocks of the species in South Australian waters.
More than 150,000 baby snapper, called fingerlings, will be released in small batches over the coming weeks at Black Point on the Yorke Peninsula, which is directly adjacent to a recognised nursery area for snapper in the region. Two further releases are scheduled to take place at the same location during autumn.
The fingerlings have been bred at the Aquatics Sciences Centre at West Beach by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), which is the research division for the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA).
Snapper is an iconic fish in South Australia and important for commercial, recreational, charter boat and Aboriginal traditional fishers.
Since 2021, SARDI has delivered annual releases of juvenile snapper after successfully breeding snapper from adult brood stock collected from Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent in early 2020.
Last month more than 50,000 baby snapper were released into the waters of northern Spencer Gulf.
The releases are funded through the $1.2 million restocking program, which is an integral part of the $8.8 million Snapper Recovery Package announced by the State Government in December 2022 in response to the depleted status of snapper stocks.
During the 3 years of the package, up to 900,000 fingerlings will be produced and released into Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent. The releases are timed to occur during the warmer months to align with the natural breeding cycle of snapper.
The tiny fish are released once they are 60 to 80 days old when they measure about 50 millimetres in length.
They have their ear bones (otoliths) dyed purple so that they can be identified from wild fish if they are sampled in years to come.
The waters of the Gulf St Vincent, West Coast and Spencer Gulf regions remain closed to snapper fishing until 30 June 2026.
Fishing for snapper in the South-East Fishing Zone is managed by a total allowable catch, with a recreational daily bag limit of 2 snapper per person and a daily limit of 6 per boat if there are 3 or more people fishing on board.
Recreational fishers must report the snapper they catch through the free SA Fishing app or by phoning the Fishwatch 24-hour hotline on 1800 065 522.
For more information go to Snapper recovery.
