April 3, 2025
Photo: Facebook/Project Kingfish, Jason Taylor with kingfish
Project Kingfish seeks to fill the knowledge gaps about the reproductive yellowtail kingfish population in eastern Australia.
A highly valued fish species in Australia, yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) are still a bit of a mystery to us. Relatively little is known about the species, particularly of the ‘Eastern Australia’ biological population which spans across SA, VIC, TAS, NSW, QLD and NZ. Some of the major knowledge gaps about the eastern kingfish population include the distribution and behaviour of reproductive fish, the location of key spawning habitats and how the species recruits to the coast.
The Sydney Institute of Marine Science is leading Project Kingfish to enhance the current understanding of the species. The project is a collaboration between scientists and expert recreational fishers who are collecting information and filling knowledge gaps about the reproductive kingfish population.
Project Kingfish aims to track movements of mature, spawning-sized yellowtail kingfish (>95cm in length) by deploying satellite tracking devices to uncover where they go to spawn, how they connect across fisheries jurisdictions and how they recruit to the coast.
The project team are using a range of research approaches including biochemical analyses, satellite tracking technology and computer modelling, to produce novel scientific information that will enhance the knowledge of the eastern Australia kingfish population.
The satellite tags used by the research team are pre-programmed to collect data on their location, swimming depth, ambient sea temperature and overall activity every second for up to 12 months. They’re small tags, weighing only 57 grams. When the tag releases from the fish, it floats to the surface to begin transmitting the stored data to satellites.
In early 2023, Deakin University were successful in securing funding via the Victorian Fisheries Authority’s Recreational Fishing Large Grants program to expand the project to Victoria and deploy acoustic tags and satellite tags on Victorian kingfish over a three-year period. Since then, Deakin University have tagged more than 45 kingfish with acoustic tags.
The latest research from Deakin University has shown some interesting movement from a tagged kingfish. A 121 cm kingfish was tagged on the 9th of February 2023 at Lady Julia Percy Island and was at liberty for 7 months before it’s first detection. After being detected at Mollymook, the fish beelined up the NSW coast and arrived at Coffs Harbour 7 days later. That means, this fish travelled at least 637km in 7 days – averaging at least 91km each day!
The blue dots on the image below show where the fish was detected as it swam up the NSW coast. It was detected at locations such as Kiama, Cronulla, Maroubra, Bondi, Manly, Hawks Nest, Forster and Crescent Head with most of these detections from the shark listening stations.
A satellite tag was recently recovered from an isolated beach in Wilson’s Promontory after it detached from a 117cm kingfish. The project team were notified that the satellite had detached and it had begun transmitting information. Project Kingfish team member Jason found the tag at a secluded beach at Wilson’s Promontory – after 1.5 hour hike through the shrubs from his car and around an hour of searching the beach.
They don’t usually physically recover the detached tags and rely on summarised information that is transmitted to satellites. However, recovering the tag means that the project team will have access to the raw archived data. The raw data means the team can investigate the depth, temperature, and light-levels that the kingfish was exposed to every 1-5 seconds of the deployment.
Majority of the research from Deakin University so far has recorded the kingfish as being residential in Victoria or moving north along the NSW coastline.
In February 2023, a 108cm kingfish was tagged. Following being detected twice in May 2023 at Port Phillip Heads, the fish was not detected again until 16 months later near Narooma, NSW. The kingfish then moved north, it missed every receiver along the path, and was finally detected in Kingscliff, just south of the Queensland border.
Project Kingfish have said that typically IMOS Animal Tracking acoustic receivers have a detection range of approximately 200-800m. So it’s possible that this kingfish was not detected by the acoustic receivers while travelling as it may have travelled north in waters further offshore.
The kingfish was then detected moving south for a month and a half, being detected at Ballina, Evans Head, Forster, Palm Beach, Bondi, Wollongong and Kiama. The last known whereabouts of this kingfish was at Batemans Bay in December 2024. This means, this kingfish moved at least 1857km in three months! The movements of this kingfish can be seen in the image below.
Funded by the New South Wales Recreational Fishing Trusts and the Victorian Recreational Fishing Grants Program, Project Kingfish is led by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science in collaboration with scientists and recreational fishers.
