When is a snapper too big?

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (2) Likes(2)   Quote laidbackdood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 10:13pm
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As far as cook ability goes....a snapper is never too big to cook.....it has the added bonus of extra fat most of the time and the flesh segments tend to hold together really well.......excellent for curry and tender cooked in curry too.....have cooked a few biggies that way.......big kingfish no probs too and puka and bass but a nice feeling to release a big fish !.......the enemy of ruining fish is over cooking it ...not its age or size........If you know what you are doing.....most fish can be cooked nicely.
Once the idiots turn up..Im outta here...No time for Drama Queens.
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When it won't fit in your boat?

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.the enemy of ruining fish is over cooking it ...not its age or size........If you know what you are doing.....most fish can be cooked nicely.

Now thats the secret...and applies to everything, lambs fry to broccoli.
 With thick fillets, or what ever you cook the outside layers get over cooked even if the middle is perfect (unless rare).. thats also the reason cooking pieces .. including veggies and fish in a wok are added at different times and cut to size.
 Why thick lambs fry is sliced thru the middle so the outside doesnt go like leather...Wienerschnitzel same

When it won't fit in your boat?
 Nah tow it home Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote cirrus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jun 2019 at 10:12am
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but if you release all snapper over 2 meters in length there will be days you come home with nothing.
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Here's some more research on size/breeding which concludes bigger female fish invest disproportionately more in making eggs than smaller females. The conclusion is, taking a single big fish has a bigger impact on the fish population than taking multiple small ones.

Ref: Science Daily covers recent Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute research. "Big fish produce disproportionately more and bigger eggs: A big deal for fisheries". link

What difference does it make whether an angler catches one big fish or two smaller fish, each half its weight? Experts assumed that big and small fish invest the same proportion of their energy to make eggs. But a new report in Science by a Smithsonian biologist and colleagues shows that plus-sized females invest disproportionately more in the number of eggs and the size of individual eggs. Therefore, taking a single big fish has a bigger impact on the fish population than taking multiple small ones.

"Our results are critical for fisheries management: They tell us to reduce fishing pressure on large fish rather than smaller ones in order to maintain and replenish stocks," said staff scientist D. Ross Robertson at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. "We need to focus on reducing fishing pressure on large fish rather than exploiting them more heavily than small fish."

Led by Diego R. Barneche at Monash University's Centre for Geometric Biology and the University of Sydney, Robertson, along with evolutionary biologists Craig White and Dustin Marshall, also from Monash University, surveyed egg number, egg volume and energy invested in eggs by 342 different marine species, based on publications in Google Scholar about wild fish, as well as data on egg-quality of a range of species collected by Robertson.

The number of eggs laid by a single mother ranged from 11 to almost 58 million eggs per clutch. Egg volume ranged from a hundredth of a cubic millimeter to 0.345 cubic centimeters.

The energy content of eggs from fish collected at sites around the world from Japan to Corsica ranged from seven hundredths of a Joule to almost 300 Joules. Larger eggs have slightly less energy per unit volume than small eggs but a much higher energy content overall. Rather than finding a straight linear relationship: more weight implies more egg production, they found a power-function relationship: as weight goes up, the effort put into reproduction rises exponentially.

"There have always been two quite different explanations of the relationship between size and fecundity," Robertson said. "We collected enough data to identify what we think is generally the correct relationship."

From river systems, to trees, to genes, scientists are discovering that the properties of biological systems are often governed by power laws, rather than linear relationships. For example, scaling up the effective dosage of a drug in a mouse to the weight of a human resulted in overdoses, because the relationship was not linear. Also, ecologists working in Africa found that bigger species of savannah animals require disproportionately more space to live in than smaller animals.

"The realization that fecundity in marine fish is non-linear is important not only for managing commercial fish stocks to maintain and enhance their productivity, but also for understanding evolution and for managing invasive species such as lionfish, in which the big females seem to be concentrated in deep water," said Robertson.

Content Acknowledgement:
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute via Science Daily.

Journal Reference:
Diego R. Barneche, D. Ross Robertson, Craig R. White, Dustin J. Marshall. Fish reproductive-energy output increases disproportionately with body size. Science, 2018; 360 (6389): 642 DOI: 10.1126/science.aao6868
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Got-ya Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jun 2019 at 5:18am
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They told us to 'limit our catch not catch our limit', which we bought into then they turned around and reduced it. We all started to have a voluntary 30cm minimum size limit and they who shall not be named found out and raised the size limit.
 
See a theme here? anyone? Learn from past mistakes before your best intentions return to shaft you. I for one will take any legal size I decide I have a use for and no amount of good meaning but poorly thought out pressure or looking down the nose snobbery will change my mind.
That 55cm fish you are all happy to take is probably in excess of ten years old but I bet the same crew would be the first to look down their noses at an angler who hangs up a fast growing stripy of 90kg which is probably about 5 years old.
 
If you want an upper size limit as well, with even more regulation and disconnect between commercial and recreation keep talking.
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF FISHERMAN, THOSE WHO FISH FOR SPORT AND THOSE THAT CATCH SOMETHING.
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Yeah I agree actually Got-ya. I think when they reduced limits to 7 per day a few years back with the threat of 3 per day mooted first I actually think that the 3 number will be banded again in the not distant future now. A long term ploy but I think I have wised up to the tactics in play here.

  
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote smudge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jun 2019 at 6:21am
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Originally posted by Muppet Muppet wrote:

Yeah I agree actually Got-ya. I think when they reduced limits to 7 per day a few years back with the threat of 3 per day mooted first I actually think that the 3 number will be banded again in the not distant future now. A long term ploy but I think I have wised up to the tactics in play here.

  

Me too
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote Far Quirk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jun 2019 at 1:44pm
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Some thoughts.

The graph posted by Waynorth is truly amazing and shows how diverse the size range is at any age.  Waynorth points out that a 12 year old snapper can measure between 28 to 90cms!  Even more gobsmacking is that a 3 year old snapper can be 23 to 70cms!!  Now this is wandering off into cloud cuckoo land, but if it was possible to tell a precocious big fish (for example a 3 year old 70cm one) from a slow-growing one (35 years old and 70cm), then it's my opinion that its better to release the young one.  But that's just hypothetical BS.

It could be that our commercial friends are actually targeting young fish.  For the Asian markets 25 to 30cm snapper are very sought after.  By selecting these fish they are removing small fish and helping to counteract the recreational fishos?  (I'm hearing howls or rage at this idea, but just putting it out there.)

Thru self interest, commercial fishos don't target shallow reefy areas, otherwise they would lose too much gear and waste time.  Not saying commercial fishos don't catch big fish, but maybe the recreational fishos targeting the shallow reefy areas are catching more big fish as a proportion of their catch?  Once again, a bit controversial.

I like fishing shallow reefy structure in winter, because there's always a chance I'll catch a big fish.  But it's only a small chance, and my lack of skill means the bigger ones mainly elude me.  But if I ever catch one over 65cms, I would be inclined to put it back after a quick photo.  Using big circle/recurve hooks and wet towels for handling the fish should improve their survival prospects.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Grunta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jun 2019 at 2:14pm
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Originally posted by Got-ya Got-ya wrote:

.........If you want an upper size limit as well, with even more regulation and disconnect between commercial and recreation keep talking.
Not sure how this thread could drive that conclusion or any reasonable rationale for it. There's some solid points and good evidence to support what many anglers currently do, and that's where they can, they release larger fish in good condition. I think most of us would like to less regulation, more common sense and individuals making good choices based on the circumstances at the time.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Far Quirk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jun 2019 at 4:06pm
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Western Australia

They have a minimum size of 500mm and a bag limit of 2 snapper per angler per day.  They measure the fish from the nose to the tip of the tail (not the V).  I'm guessing a 470mm snapper measured to the V would be big enough in WA.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote laidbackdood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jun 2019 at 12:07am
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Originally posted by Far Quirk Far Quirk wrote:

Western Australia

They have a minimum size of 500mm and a bag limit of 2 snapper per angler per day.  They measure the fish from the nose to the tip of the tail (not the V).  I'm guessing a 470mm snapper measured to the V would be big enough in WA.

I actually thought it was 450 from nose to tip of tale but whatever it was.......it was enough to put me off fishing for them.......although in autumn there are plenty that size and bigger caught on charter boats over here(perth)......I tend to focus my attention on squid over here and catch plenty.Wink
Once the idiots turn up..Im outta here...No time for Drama Queens.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote Jiggity Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2019 at 6:28am
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I'm a huge advocate for releasing big snapper. It has nothing to do with genetics or breeding.
The far north is renowned for big snapper. Although with the rec fishing pressure it is slowly becoming harder to pull a 20lb+ snap from the wash.
Personally if we introduced a no keep rule for 65cm+ snapper It would become more of a draw card for our tourism.
The other reason is we are suffering from kina barren reefs and its these larger resident fish that love munching them.





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Originally posted by Jiggity Jiggity wrote:

I'm a huge advocate for releasing big snapper. It has nothing to do with genetics or breeding.
The far north is renowned for big snapper. Although with the rec fishing pressure it is slowly becoming harder to pull a 20lb+ snap from the wash.
Personally if we introduced a no keep rule for 65cm+ snapper It would become more of a draw card for our tourism.
The other reason is we are suffering from kina barren reefs and its these larger resident fish that love munching them.



I would tend to disagree with the bigger fish love munching kina. Most of the big boys ive killed have all had buggered teeth so are thin as and certainly not in a position to chomp back kina. My first big snapper at 22.7lbs was 88cm long and skinny as because i believe its teeth were past their use by date.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Muppet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2019 at 7:48am
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How did it eat your bait then?
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Originally posted by Jiggity Jiggity wrote:

I'm a huge advocate for releasing big snapper. It has nothing to do with genetics or breeding.
The far north is renowned for big snapper. Although with the rec fishing pressure it is slowly becoming harder to pull a 20lb+ snap from the wash.
Personally if we introduced a no keep rule for 65cm+ snapper It would become more of a draw card for our tourism.
The other reason is we are suffering from kina barren reefs and its these larger resident fish that love munching them.





Hmm bit wrong there,plenty of kina around in fact to many and bugger all kelp left due to the kina taking over and not enough snapper to keep kina under control.


An increase in the number of kina sucking the life out of the seabed is causing growing concern among Northland marine environmentalists.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2019 at 10:01am
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The kina are so plentiful around the gulf, they dont have enough food to get close to reasonable size for anything other than burley...and make it real noisy under water.
 This kina issue is covered several times in several older posts.
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Originally posted by Muppet Muppet wrote:

How did it eat your bait then?


You try dodge a stainless steel shaft while youre asleep at home tucked up nicely in a gut
😂
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jiggity Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2019 at 1:06pm
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Kina barren is when the kina population eat all the sea weed, although the term does suggest that there are no kina.   Which kind of happens once there is no food.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jiggity Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2019 at 3:03pm
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They dont need sharp teeth to munch on a kina. These are from a fish I've just filleted. Hes about 6lb and already has worn teeth.
An aprox 18lb fish released had very smooth teeth and had a nice **** on the boat of kina before being released. Same thing with a 20+lb fish a few weeks ago.
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