I & I NSW WILD FISHERIES RESEARCH PROGRAM Sand Whiting (Sillago ciliata) EXPLOITATION STATUS FULLY FISHED Sand whiting are targeted by recreational anglers and commercial fishers throughout their range. Commercial landings and catch rates are stable. SCIENTIFIC NAME STANDARD NAME COMMENT Sillago ciliata sand whiting Sillago ciliata Image © Bernard Yau Background The sand whiting (Sillago ciliata) occurs along shores, but also in and around seagrasses and the entire eastern coastline of Australia, from mangroves). Sand whiting grow reasonably Cape York (Queensland) to Victoria and eastern quickly, taking about 2 years to reach 25 cm Tasmania. It is also found in New Caledonia fork length (FL) after which growth slows. They and Papua New Guinea. In NSW waters, sand mature at around 24 cm FL (males) and 26 cm whiting are found in estuaries and coastal FL (females). Maximum length is about 50 cm waters off ocean beaches. Within estuaries, the (total length). After spawning, adults may either favoured habitat is bare sandy substrate. Sand enter estuarine waters or remain along ocean whiting eat bottom dwelling invertebrates, beaches. particularly polychaete worms, crustaceans and The majority of sand whiting are taken in the molluscs taken by fossicking though the sand. Estuary General Fishery using hauling and mesh Spawning occurs in the lower reaches of nets. Sand whiting are caught throughout the estuaries and in coastal waters near river year but landings peak during the summers. mouths during summer. Larvae then enter Sand whiting is a very popular species amongst estuaries, with the small juveniles preferring recreational fishers, and the recreational catch shallow water (particularly along sandy is estimated to be 2 to 3 times greater than the commercial catch. STATUS OF FISHERIES RESOURCES IN NSW, 2008/09 SAND WHITING | P 263 WILD FISHERIES RESEARCH PROGRAM Additional Notes Landings by Commercial Fishery of Sand Whiting • Significant amounts of biological and Ocean Prawn Trawl monitoring data are now available for sand Ocean Hauling (Target Species) whiting. Estuary General (Primary Species) • The size composition of the commercial catch has been relatively stable since the 1960s. 200 • There is a minimum legal length of 27 cm total length for sand whiting and a combined 150 recreational bag limit of 20 whiting. 100 Landings (t) Catch 50 Recreational Catch of Sand Whiting The annual recreational harvest of sand whiting 0 in NSW is likely to lie between 230 and 460 t. 97/98 99/00 01/02 03/04 05/06 07/08 This estimate is based upon the results of the Financial Year offsite National Recreational and Indigenous Reported landings of sand whiting by NSW commercial Fishing Survey (Henry and Lyle, 2003) and fisheries from 1997/98. Fisheries which contribute less onsite surveys undertaken by I & I NSW. than 2.5% of the landings are excluded for clarity and privacy. Catch Per Unit Effort Information of Sand Whiting Historical Landings of Sand Whiting Harvested by Mesh-Netting in NSW 1.0 200 0.8 150 0.6 100 Landings (t) 0.4 50 Relative Catch Rate 0.2 0 58/59 68/69 78/79 88/89 98/99 08/09 0.0 Financial Year 98/99 00/01 02/03 04/05 06/07 08/09 Financial Year Commercial landings (including available historical records) of sand whiting for NSW from 1952/53 to Catch rates of sand whiting harvested using mesh- 2008/09 for all fishing methods. netting for NSW. Two indicators are provided: (1) median catch rate (lower solid line); and (2) 90th percentile of the catch rate (upper dashed line). Note that catch rates are not a robust indicator of abundance in many cases. Caution should be applied when interpreting these results. P 264 | SAND WHITING STATUS OF FISHERIES RESOURCES IN NSW, 2008/09 Length Frequency of Sand Whiting Growth Curve of Sand Whiting ● 40 1969/70−1992/93 ● ● ● 0.15 n = 35 586 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 35 ● ● ● ● ● 0.10 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Proportion ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● FL (cm) 0.05 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 30 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 0.00 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 25 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 2 4 6 8 10 2003/04−2006/07 0.15 n = 1773 Ring Count (years) Age-length data with fitted growth curve for sand whiting (Ochwada et al. 2008). Lengths are presented as 0.10 fork length (FL). Proportion 0.05 Further Reading 0.00 Broadhurst, M.K., C.A. Gray, D.D. Reid, M.E.L. Wooden, 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 D.J. Young, J.A. Haddy and C. Damiano (2005). Mortality of key fish species released by recreational anglers in an Australian estuary, Journal of 2007/08−2008/09 0.15 n = 8587 Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 321: 171- 179. Butcher, P.A., M.K. Broadhurst and C.P. Brand (2006). 0.10 Mortality of sand whiting (Sillago ciliata) released by recreational anglers in an Australian estuary, ICES Proportion Journal of Marine Science 63: 567-571. 0.05 Gray, C.A., R.B. Larsen and S.J. Kennelly (2000). Use of transparent netting to improve size selectivity and reduce bycatch in fish seine nets. Fisheries Research 0.00 45: 155-166. 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 FL (cm) Gray, C.A., B.C. Pease, S.L. Stringfellow, L.P. Raines, B.K. Rankin and T.R. Walford (2000). Sampling estuarine The length distribution of sand whiting in NSW fish species for stock assessment, FRDC Project commercial landings was relatively stable from the 1960s 94/042. NSW Fisheries Final Report Series. Cronulla, to the 1990s, and comprised mainly fish between 25 and NSW Fisheries: 196 pp. 35 cm fork length (FL). Most of the catches sampled were taken with hauling nets. Commercial landings sampled Gray, C.A. and S.J. Kennelly (2003). Catch during recent years included more samples from mesh characteristics of the commercial beach-seine net catches, and showed an increased proportion of fisheries in two Australian barrier estuaries. Fisheries larger (>30 cm FL) whiting. The minimum legal length for Research 63: 405-422. sand whiting in NSW is 27 cm total length (approximately 25 cm FL). Gray, C.A., S.J. Kennelly, K.E. Hodgson, C.J.T. Ashby and M.L. Beatson (2001). Retained and discarded catches from commercial beach-seining in Botany Bay. Fisheries Research 50: 205-219. Henry, G.W. and J.M. Lyle (2003). The National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey. Final Report to the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation and the Fisheries Action Program Project FRDC 1999/158. NSW Fisheries Final Report Series No. 48. 188 pp. Cronulla, NSW Fisheries. SAND WHITING | P 265 WILD FISHERIES RESEARCH PROGRAM Kennelly, S.J. and C.A. Gray (2000). Reducing the mortality of discarded undersize sand whiting Sillago ciliata in an esturine seine fishery. Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 405-422. Ochwada, F.A., J.P. Scandol and C.A. Gray (2008). Predicting the age of fish using general and generalized linear models of biometric data: a case study of two estuarine finfish from New South Wales, Australia. Fisheries Research 90 (1-3): 187-197. Queensland Fisheries. (2010). Stock status of Queensland’s fisheries resources 2009-10. Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation: 65 pp. Steffe, A.S., J.J. Murphy, D.J. Chapman and C.C. Gray (2005). An assessment of changes in the daytime recreational fishery of Lake Macquarie following the establishment of a ‘Recreational Fishing Haven’. Final Report Series No. 79. Cronulla, NSW Department of Primary Industries: 103 pp. Steffe, A.S., J.J. Murphy, D.J. Chapman, G.P. Barret and C.C. Gray (2005). An assessment of changes in the daytime, boat-based, recreational fishery of the Tuross Lake estuary following the establishment of a ‘Recreational Fishing Haven’. Final Report Series No. 81. Cronulla, NSW Department of Primary Industries: 70 pp. Please visit the CSIRO website, http://www.marine.csiro.au/caab/ and search for the species code (CAAB) 37 330010, common name or scientific name to find further information. © State of New South Wales through Industry and Investment NSW 2010. You may copy, distribute and otherwise freely deal with this publication for any purpose, provided that you attribute Industry and Investment NSW as the owner. Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (April 2010). However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that information upon which they rely is up to date and to check currency of the information with the appropriate officer of Industry and Investment NSW or the user’s independent adviser. P 266 | SAND WHITING.