“We want Tasmanian recreational fishers to have useful real-time weather information in the places where they fish – out on the water,” said TARFish CEO, Jane Gallichan.
“We want to support recreational fishers, and other waterway users, to make better boating decisions to improve safety and also the quality of the fishing experience – knowing the local weather in real-time can mean the difference between a good and great fishing expedition,” she said.
The first weather buoy is located off Burnie, co-located on the State Government’s Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) with three further buoys to be deployed over the next month off St Helens, Marion Bay and south of Southport.
The weather information is available from the TARFish website at www.tarfish.org or www.weather.tarfish.org in a mobile friendly format so that fishers can check the weather on the go.
“We focussed on making the information useful and easy to understand and we expect it won’t be just recreational fishers that will take advantage of it, with commercial fishers, yachties and surfers also likely to use the publicly available weather information.
“We believe there is strong demand for this type of weather information in a central location, easily accessed for free.
“We’ve worked closely with recreational fishers, MAST, the State Government and IMOS (Integrated Marine Observing System) to make this happen and we hope to continue to grow the network over time,” she said.
In addition to the immediate benefits to recreational fishers, TARFish will also provide access to the underlying weather data to research organisations to support science projects.
“Things are changing in our oceans so if the data we collect from these weather buoys can support research into everything from marine heatwaves to coastal erosion to predicting changes is fish assemblages and beyond, we’re all for it.
“We are grateful to both the State Government through their Better Fishing Grants program and MAST through their Small Boating Grants for making this new service to recreational fishers possible,” she concluded.
BACKGROUND
The Tasmanian Association for Recreational Fishing (TARFish) is the independent peak body representing Tasmania’s recreational sea fishers.
Recreational fishers represent the largest cohort by number on Tasmanian waters each year with over 100,0001 undertaking recreational fishing each year.
Key statistics:
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Over 100,000 Tasmanian recreational fishers
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Over 95% of flathead (the most commonly caught species in Tasmania) and 90% of other key recreational species such as, trumpeter, tuna and rock lobster are caught from recreational boats.
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Tasmania has the highest boat ownership (per capita) in the nation.