VRFish releases Kingfish Survey results

VRFish releases Kingfish Survey results © VRFish

At the start of September, the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) released a proposal to reduce the bag limit of yellowtail kingfish from 5 to 2 per person per day.

The proposal was put forward as recreational fishers raised concerns that current recreational fishing regulations for the species are considered outdated, particularly the 5 fish per person per day bag limit, seen as beyond a reasonable day's harvest for valued fish of such a large size.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority have reviewed bag and size limits for the species as well as scientific research and neighbouring jurisdictions management, and have put forward a proposal to reduce the bag limit from 5 to 2 kingfish per person per day. They expect the proposed changes to:

• Better reflect recreational fisher views of a reasonable day's harvest
• Better share the catch amongst more fishers
• Reduce local depletion of the species during peak fishing periods
• Potentially improve the fishery quality through better sized fish
• Align with the bag limit of other offshore species such as gummy and school shark

As the peak body for recreational fishing, VRFish consulted with Victorian recreational fishers via an online survey to identify if recreational fishers support the proposal to reduce the Victorian recreational fishing bag limit for kingfish.

The survey was open for a two-week period and recreational fishers were asked to answer five questions including if they support the proposed reduction to the bag limit for yellowtail kingfish by the Victorian Fisheries Authority.

A total of 1,023 respondents participated in the survey. VRFish distributed the survey via our website, social media, and an email invitation sent to VRFish members and subscribers including our database of recreational fishing licence holders.

Of the survey respondents, 85% recreationally fish for yellowtail kingfish and most commonly target kingfish between 2 to 5 days per year (25%).

When it comes to the proposal to reduce the daily bag limit of yellowtail kingfish from 5 to 2 per person, we found that majority of recreational fishers (72%) are supportive of the proposal. When analysing the data further, we found that those who identified as kingfish fishers in Q1 were supportive of the proposal (69%).

The feedback from the survey will be used to form a VRFish submission to the Victorian Fisheries Authority's proposal to reduce the daily bag limit for Yellowtail Kingfish from 5 to 2 per person.

Public Consultation

There is still time to contribute to the Victorian Fisheries Authority proposal by contacting Taylor Hunt, Victorian Fisheries Authority's Manager of Recreational Fisheries on during the 30-day public consultation period of commencing on 1 September until 30 September 2025.

Find out more about the proposal via the Victorian Fisheries Authority here.