Bright Future for Whiting in Victoria

Fishing for King George whiting has a bright future, with juvenile numbers the best they have been since 2021.

Our field surveys in late 2025 recorded better numbers of the popular species than in 2022, 2023 and 2024. These survey results are great news, given the popularity of King George whiting as a table fish that can be caught from a boat or the shore with simple gear.

The overall quality of fishing in Port Phillip has been outstanding since the removal of commercial net fishing in the bay in 2022, leaving more fish, such as whiting, for recreational anglers. Our annual surveys of baby whiting in shallow seagrass have been undertaken at several sites around the bay for over 25 years and have proved a reliable predictor of future catches.

These most recent results in Port Phillip are indicative of juvenile whiting numbers in other waters such as Western Port and Corner Inlet. Once King George whiting begin maturing, they leave our bays for coastal waters where they spawn in winter, most likely off western Victoria and South Australia. Whiting larvae then drift eastward for three months before entering Port Phillip and other bays in spring, when we conduct the surveys in seagrass beds. Westerly winds help drive currents that bring the larvae into our bays, where they take about two years to reach 27cm.

King George whiting only stay in our bays for a few years of their life, so these fisheries naturally fluctuate depending on the number of larvae that entered several years prior. At about four years of age, most whiting have left our bays to complete their life in coastal waters