January 18, 2024
Image from the Mulloway Tagging Victoria Facebook group: Brad Spiden tagged this 92.5 cm Mulloway from the Patterson River in March 2021
The Nature Glenelg Trust‘s Mulloway tagging project is investigating broad-scale movement patterns of mulloway across Victoria and interstate. Over six years, they’ve recorded and shared incredibly interesting recapture information.
In March 2021, Brad Spiden tagged a 92.5cm Mulloway in the Patterson River. This fish was recaptured a few days ago at the mouth of the Murray River by Nick Panozzo. In that time, the fish had travelled over 800 km, breaking the previous record of 700 km for the longest distance travelled. It measured 119 cm, growing 26.5 cm in almost 3 years. It was a very lean female fish at 26lb.
Previous posts from the project have shown a trend for tagged mulloway to be recaptured around this time of year near the mouth of the Murray, with these movements almost inevitably linked to breeding.
Lauren Brown, Nature Glenelg Trust, shared that the tagged Mulloway that held the previous record for the longest swim was similarly recaptured near the mouth of the Murray in late December. This fish was originally tagged in the Barwon River. This recent recapture provides pretty strong evidence of Mulloway as far east as the Patterson River, making their way to the mouth of the Murray River region to breed.
Find more on the Mulloway Tagging Victoria Facebook page here.
If you catch a tagged Mulloway, you can report your recapture by emailing them through with your contact details to Lauren Brown on [email protected]
Image from the Mulloway Tagging Victoria Facebook group: The same fish recaptured almost 3 years later by Nick Panozzo at the mouth of the Murray River
