Blowies

Scott Bateman posted:

Speaking of Blowies....

I have recently heard that blowies use to be fed on regularly by tuna, an old guy i met told me that use to enter the peel estuary and wipe them out. Anyone else heard of this as I may be doing some studies on this later.

 

Scott, hope you don't mind, but I posted this seperately out of Colin Hayes's thread as I think you'll get more people to see it and therefore hopefully respond. Laughing

 

My experience with blowies:

Many years ago, when skin diving around Point Peron, I cam across a very large school of semi mature blowies. Nothing strange there. However, without exception, every single one of them had no tail! Otherwise, they were quite happy swimming around doing what they do - albeit swimming very slowly. In the absence, therefore, of any proof to the contrary, I certainly subscribe to the theory that some palegic species attacked them.  

 

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Auslobster's picture

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Have caught tailor of

Wed, 2008-05-28 14:33

Have caught tailor of varying sizes with small blowies in their guts, and yes, have also heard the tuna eat them as well. Perhaps overfishing of these species as assisted with the "blowie explosion".

Neander's picture

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My old man told me bonito

Wed, 2008-05-28 15:11

My old man told me bonito used to feed on them when the large schools used to come through.

Now less and less bonito are coming there is more and more blowies.

Then again neither of us are experts, just hearsay.

Bill's picture

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ARRHH nup i want post

Wed, 2008-05-28 16:28

ARRHH nup i want post anthing under this thread see I'm learning

Dreamweaver's picture

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LOL Bill

Wed, 2008-05-28 16:32

Well done LOL.  

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

 

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Bill's picture

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Boy it was hard but great

Wed, 2008-05-28 16:34

Boy it was hard but great restraint on my behalf lol

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Bike Bill

Wed, 2008-05-28 16:41

Just like riding a bike Bill, the more you practice, the easier it gets. Soon, you'll posting with sub conscious elliquence LOL.

 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

 

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Leemo's picture

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i know for a fact that small

Wed, 2008-05-28 17:04

i know for a fact that small sailfish actually do like blowies. saw a video on it a while back and they were using a rigged norwest blowie.

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Bloke's picture

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question.

Wed, 2008-05-28 20:01

Are these bloody things native to the area, or are they an introduced pest?

I've heard a few different stories, one of them being that blowies were introduced via ships when they release all the ballast water from the hull.

Cheers, Al. 

Scott Bateman's picture

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Well I'm gonna hve to do

Wed, 2008-05-28 20:53

Well I'm gonna hve to do some research into this as I believe they are really impacting on our ecosystem. I truly think there numbers are playing havoc on the other species by reducing there food sources etc. I've got a mate that's studying marine bio at uni so I'm goona ask him to do some research for me from his end. I'm going to also speak to the fisheries to see if they have any studies on the impact of these PESTS!

I'll keep you posted of my findings if I can find anything Laughing

 

Cheers Guys

hlokk's picture

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I have heard that the

Wed, 2008-05-28 21:00

I have heard that the blowies eat the babies of other fish like bream. If this is the case, and with blowie swarms about, why cant they get cast nets and take out 100s or 1000's at a time? 

 

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Scott Bateman's picture

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I have been speaking to

Wed, 2008-05-28 21:07

I have been speaking to various people in the fishing game for a while about this and it has been suggested that the Goverment could set up bins to place your blowies into after catching them, this is to stop any dogs or cats eating them, and then they can collect them and study them to figure out a way to reduce there numbers.

I believe netting would only danger the other species in that area. I certainly believe that something needs done otherwise i can see them doing permanant damage if not so allready.

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There is also a school of

Thu, 2008-05-29 06:12

There is also a school of thought out there that reckons increased urban development means more gardens and more fertilisers, which get washed into rivers/estuaries, which leads to greater algal growth, which is something else blowies are said to feed upon. More food available=more of the animals that eat it.

 Some of the old-timers writing letters in the local Mandurah paper don't recall seeing any blowfish in the estuarine systems prior to the late 1940's, so this would add weight to the "introduced" theory.

It is amazing that the estuary can still support crabs/whiting/flathead because the blowies eat just about everything that they do. The faster moving transient fish, like herring/tailor/skippy/salmon trout can chase down faster moving prey, like small fish, that the blowies don't have as much of an impact on, but you still are better off using hard-bodied lures for them, as opposed to bait or soft plastics.

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Puffer Fish, Toad Fish, 'Blowies'

Thu, 2008-05-29 07:36

Whilst browsing various web pages on this 'lil guy' yesterday, I did come across on source that stated they were indemic (native) to Australia. Though I can't find that site again. DOH!

In my 39 years of sihing experience in Perth, I certainly nticed the trend that their population is cyclical, tending to reach plague (pest) proportions, then cycle down to very small numbers. Unfortunately for Perth fishos, it would seem they are in a peak cycle judging by the 'adoring' posts. (LOL)

Scott, whilst the sentiment and desire to purge these 'lil guys' is definately understood, they are considered part of the marine ecosystem. So I can't see that happening. I know there have been many and fervent (sometimes quite heated) debates on that susbject.

 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

 

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hlokk's picture

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If they were introduced, I

Thu, 2008-05-29 12:23

If they were introduced, I could imagine the early 40's would have had a lot of traffic from all over the world.

As Colin mentioned, perhaps they are endemic, and they've just increased in numbers post WW2 due to rapid development (and hence more algal growth as John mentioned). You might be surprised how much perth has expanded since 1945 (see if you can get your hands on some maps)

Blowies still have an ecological role (scavenger garbage collectors), so they shouldnt be eradicated, but i doubt if they were reduced to non-plague proportions there wouldnt too much of a problem?

Perhaps we just need a booming fugu industry. If there was a few dollars a head bounty on the blowies, i'm sure the numbers would decrease.

 

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Scott Bateman's picture

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Yeah there's definatley an

Thu, 2008-05-29 17:27

Yeah there's definatley an argument either way and both would need to be considered before any action is taken. It's good to hear all your thoughts and info on the subject as It will help with further investigations.

Neil Bradbury's picture

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Scott I agree the blowie

Mon, 2008-06-02 00:09

Scott I agree the blowie infestation needs looking at. And the bin idea sounds like a good start to me (must have been a smart bloke who came up with that). With the increase in demestic run off which Auslobster aludes to, there has been a definate increase in algal growth resuting in increases in Algy blooms (probably didnt spell that too well) which fisheries have completed many studies on. It is however great to see which I read in the June FWA mag that this is being adressed in an effort to clean the waters in some parts of the Swan.

I believe that this increase which kills   most fish species does not have much of an effect on the blowies and infact probably acts in the reverse. So we have a reduction in bread and butter species and an increase in the pests an atrocity that man has created.

Isnt it about time we aided mother nature in bringing back the balance,like we do with other animal species such as Red Fin Perch or even Kangaroos. I believe the blowies have there place but have been allowed, may be encouraged to grow beyond normal numbers.

By the way Scooter....Old man??? Laughing

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Fair point - not down south?

Mon, 2008-06-02 07:30

Neil, yup, fair point - usually within any bio system, if one species becomes over dominant, then it can have delitarious consiquences. Is the 'blowie scurge' in Perth and arounds greater than any previous peak I wonder? 

Fortunately, I woudn't know as I have yet to catch a blowie in 2 years of fishing down in Albany (not that I'm complaining, mind you Laughing). That gets me on to my next thought - why don't we get blowies down here? Is it due to limited migration habbits or water temperature, or some other reason? 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

 

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