HOW YOUR CONTRIBUTION Become a citizen NATURE GLENELG TRUST WILL HELP scientist today! Catching mulloway consistently is a feat achieved by few but aspired to by many! Although research on Mulloway in eastern South Australia has shown they are long-lived (40+ years) and late maturing (5-6 years), there has been far less research attention on Mulloway in the estuaries of western Victoria. This project is funded by recreational fishing A recent tagging study by scientists at Arthur Rilah Institute indicates that some license fees as part of the Small Grants Fund, Mulloway travel from the Glenelg River supported by Fisheries Victoria. to the mouth of the Murray River to breed! In order to monitor the health Do you catch and status of Mulloway stocks, we need to collect up-to-date biological information on this species. Mulloway in the Your contribution to this research will Glenelg or enable us to better manage Mulloway across the Victoria – South Australia border and help ensure we continue to Further Information Hopkins rivers? catch ‘The Greatest One’ in the future. Nature Glenelg Trust Lauren Veale PO Box 354, 04 3903 4390 Warrnambool, Email: VIC 3280 [email protected] www.natureglenelg.org.au HOW YOU CAN HELP This project’s success relies on the regular contribution of information about Drop-off locations and contacts Mulloway in the Glenelg and Hopkins rivers and nearby marine coastal waters. Nelson Kiosk Spot On Fishing Tackle You can be a citizen scientist and help by What will we do with your fish frames? Kellet St, 98 Commercial St East doing any of the following: Nelson, VIC 3292 Mount Gambier, SA 5290 Donated frames are processed in the laboratory, where (08) 8738 4061 (08) 8725 8825 1 Measure the length of each Mulloway (size/ we record the length, sex and reproductive state of the undersize) you catch and record the details, fish. We also remove the earbones (otoliths) which are along with the date, location (latitude/longitude used to determine the age of the fish. if available) and depth of capture (e.g. 14/07/2014, Glenelg River - Estuary mouth, 3 This is done by cutting a very thin section through the m). Email this information to Lauren Veale (see core of the otolith and then viewing it under a panel on right). microscope. The number of rings on the section are counted and used to estimate how many years the fish 2 After filleting the Mulloway, keep each fish has been alive. head with guts and gonads attached, and freeze in an individual plastic bag labelled with the date, location and depth of capture (see example on right panel). If your are unable to To arrange collection keep the whole frame you can just donate the Photos by Lauren Veale Lauren Veale (Nature Glenelg Trust) head. Please ensure that the total length of the and Bryn Farmer 0439 034 390 fish is noted on the bag (or if you don’t have a measuring tape, include with the head, a length Email: [email protected] How many rings of fishing line the same length as the fish). can you count? Please ensure you provide the name and contact details of the person who caught the fish so we can provide research feedback. Once you have gathered some samples, you can Age data is then used to investigate the age structure of contact Lauren via email or phone to arrange the population. These combined data detail how many collection, or you can drop them off at either of the fish there are of each age group in the stock, which helps specified locations (see panel on right). us assess the health of the species. .