WITH whiting being a popular, all-year-round recreational fishing species in Queensland it’s important that fishos correctly identify the different whiting species.
Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol district officer Rob McDonald said recreational fishers often confuse trumpeter whiting (winter whiting) with sand whiting (summer whiting), and this could lead to on-the-spot fines.
“Trumpeter (winter) whiting have a silvery grey back with a paler belly featuring a silver horizontal band,” he said.
“Sand (summer) whiting are uniformly silver (no blotches) with the pectoral, pelvic and anal fins being pale yellowish.
“Trumpeter (winter) whiting have no legal size limit but a possession limit of 50 applies; whereas sand (summer) whiting, golden-lined whiting and northern whiting all have a legal size of 23cm and a combined possession limit of 30 in total.
“Winter and summer whiting are commonly misidentified and fishers could incur an on-the-spot fine of up to $440 for getting it wrong.”
The sand (summer) whiting has a legal size of 23cm and a combined possession limit of 30 in total.
Mr McDonald said some of the distinguishing features between the species can be difficult to pick up at first, so fishers should find a good fish identification book to assist them in identifying whiting and other fish species.
“We urge fishers to check fish identification and fishing rules so that they are familiar with the different fish species and their size and possession limits,” he said.
“If you are in doubt, return the fish to the water.”
For more information on fish size and possession limits, visit www.fisheries.qld.gov.au or call
13 25 23.
