TTs supports oyster reefs

TT Fishing is proud to support the OzFish Shellfish Revolution, restoring oyster reefs through the creation and deployment of robust oyster baskets. This community driven project will create a found in bays, estuaries, and nearshore coastal waters.

These complex structures are made up of millions of shellfish, including mussels, oysters, pipis, and cockles. They form a hard substrate by clustering together and attaching to older shells,

They are also a natural filter, improving water clarity and promoting the growth of seagrass. These benefits create better fishing, with every hectare of living shellfish reef able to produce an additional 2.5 tonnes of harvestable fish per year.

Replacing what was lost

With 99% of Australia’s oyster reefs now functionally extinct, this project is integral to improving our water quality and creating habitat for marine life.

Shellfish reefs are declining due to sediment runoff and human impacts such as pollution, the deeper lake. Just about everywhere I looked for them

I found those bream in colossal schools. There must have been an incredible spawning event a few years ago to seed the lakes with millions of fish.

Some bigger bream are also cruising around and, as usual, infected with lock jaw disease.

Thankfully the lakes are still producing excellent numbers of bream on hardbody lures, and some of them are around 45cm. Nikki Bryant assures me they are still biting flat out around the Mitchell flats, and she stacked big tallies with hubby Blair on the Hurricane hardbodies.

Lake Victoria continues to deliver cracker bream to 45cm, and once again they are crunching hardbody lures in about a metre of water. When fishing with two mates on three separate occasions we managed to release about 60 bream between us, and interestingly they were also just as aggressive on small blade lures too. Working blades across the shallows is surprising deadly for those who haven’t tried it. All you have to do is cast as far as you can and work the lure at a

What

Shellfish reefs are living vertical structures, rocks, piers, or any rigid, submerged surface. and was a very pleasant shock, especially as it was caught on my homemade blade lure.

Fish and other aquatic life rely on shellfish reefs for habitat, providing places where they can shelter, breed, and source food.

I’m tipping the King George whiting will be caught from Metung or Nungurner and all around Raymond Island all winter, if the water stays this clean and salty.

BREAM

NUMBERS INCREASE

While walking those same jetties, I was dumbfounded by the immense number of juvenile bream around 24cm. I’m talking about never-ending schools stretching from about 1m deep water, way out into overharvesting and reef dredging for shells. This not only reduces shellfish numbers but also takes away the hard substrate they need to re-establish naturally. Basically, they can’t multiply if they have nowhere to anchor.

It’s not all bad news though, with mammoth efforts being undertaken by conservation groups, businesses, communities, and everyday Aussies to restore our reefs to their former glory. It is an ongoing project that will take many years to accomplish, but so far, the results are promising.

The restoration efforts take advantage of oysters’ natural tendency to grow together in clumps. One method involves collecting recycled oyster shells, and after a period of sanitation, placing them in degradable mesh baskets that are deployed in the water.

This creates a natural hard surface for baby oysters to attach, with one shell housing up to 10 baby oysters. Now that’s a lot of mouths to feed!

You can get involved by becoming an OzFish member, getting hands on with the OzFish Chapter in your region, or supporting TT Fishing in their partnership with OzFish Unlimited. To see the project in action, head to the ‘Tackle Tactics TV’ channel on YouTube. To look at becoming an OzFish member, visit ozfish.org. au. – TT Fishing