King George Whiting
pinungana (Fish)
In palawa kani, the language of Tasmanian Aborigines, with thanks to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.
Sillaginodes punctatus (King George Whiting)
2022/23 King George Whiting Status (Released August 24)
| Stock Status | SUSTAINABLE | ||
| Summary | King George Whiting is an emerging species attracting growing interest from both the commercial and recreational sectors. The current fishing pressure on King George Whiting in Tasmanian waters is unlikely to impair the recruitment of the biological stock. However, local impacts on spawning stocks could still be considerable. Therefore, pre-emptive monitoring and management are necessary if interest in this species continues to rise | ||
| Importance | Minor | ||
| Stock | Tasmanian Scalefish Fishery | ||
| Indicator(s) | Catch, effort and CPUE trends | ||
| Managing Jurisdiction | State (Tasmania) | ||
King George Whiting are found in Australia’s southern coastal waters, including northern Tasmania. This species is associated with sand and seagrass habitat. Juveniles commonly aggregate in large schools of similar-sized fish over patches of sand among sheltered, shallow seagrass (Graba-Landry et al. 2022), while adults tend to inhabit more exposed sandy areas (Edgar 2008). Commercial and recreational exploitation of King George Whiting in mainland state waters is well established. State catches are supporting a small but developing commercial fishery in northern Tasmania. Commercial operators use mostly beach seine gear in exposed coastal waters near Stanley in the northwest and in the Tamar estuary in the north. King George Whiting are also caught commercially around Flinders Island using beach seine. While commercial catch and effort have been increasing in northern Tasmania since 1995, catch is still relatively low and the increase is minor compared with the expansion of the recreational fishery. Recreational fishing likely accounts for the majority of landings. Although reported to have occurred in northern Tasmanian waters for at least 100 years, King George Whiting is a potential range-extending species, with some evidence of increasing numbers and distribution in Tasmanian waters, including possible movement down the east coast south of St Helens (Graba-Landry et al. 2022).
The latest full Scalefish Assessment can be found at the link:
Learn more about what each stock status classification means on our Stock Status Classifications Information Page:
Social and Economic Indicators