Keen angler program

The Keen Angler Program collects fish skeletons (frames) from recreational fishers to monitor the status of fish stocks. Fisheries Queensland uses the biological information from these fish frames (and other information provided by recreational and commercial fishers) to assess fish stock health and help evaluate the effectiveness of fisheries management arrangements.

The Keen Angler Program relies on volunteers. You do not need to be an experienced fisher or fish regularly – you just need to put your frames in labelled bags (provided by us in a sampling kit), store them in your freezer for a short time, and deliver them to a drop-off location (see the list below) or contact us to organise collection.

The fish frames you provide are processed in our laboratory – we measure the frames, determine the sex and remove the otoliths (ear bones) to estimate age.

Find out more about our monitoring programs.

Donate your fish frames

We’re after frames of the following fish caught in coastal waters from Rockhampton to the Gold Coast.

Rocky reef fish

• Snapper
• Pearl perch

Coral reef fish

• Red emperor
• Saddletail snapper (Largemouth nannygai)
• Crimson snapper (smallmouth nannygai)
• Spangled emperor

Inshore fin fish

• Dusky flathead
• King threadfin
• Sand whiting
• School mackerel
• Spotted mackerel
• Tailor
• Yellowfin bream

Other fish

• Spanish mackerel

Drop-off locations

Get involved

• Email FisheriesMonitoring@daf.qld.gov.au or call 13 25 23