THE TROUT, THE WHOLE TROUT, AND NOTHING BUT THE TROUT
9 July 2004

Ref: 04/121
Confusion about common fish names will soon be a thing of the past with respect to Australian fish names.

Australia's 4500 or so finfish species are being officially and individually named by a national working group in a bid to end any confusion over fishy identities.

The special working group is funded by the Australian Government through the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and CSIRO Marine Research, and brings together commercial, recreational and indigenous fishing representatives, fish-identification specialists, and aquarists.

At a meeting in September, Australia's Fish Names Committee, which is responsible for developing uniform marketing names for seafood sold in Australia, will host a meeting of the working group to consider a list of common names recommended by a team of Australian scientists.

"We have more than twice as many names as we have fish," says Dr Peter Last of the CSIRO National Fish Collection, who leads project and has provided advice to the Fish Names Committee for about 20 years.

"Practically anywhere you go in Australia, there are different names from region to region for the same species." Dr Last says the standardisation of fish marketing names has solved many problems relating to commercial species, but confusion still surrounds secondary commercial species, bycatch species, and recreational and aquarium fishes.

In Queensland, for example, some 300 species of seafood are commercially harvested, but scientists estimate there are at least twice as many common names, depending on where in Queensland the fish is caught or sold.

In addition, recreational and commercial sectors often use different names for the same species, as do various states and territories. Some species are known by five or six names, depending on where in Australia they are caught.

For example, golden perch is also called yellowbelly, callop, yellowfin perch and Murray perch.

The common names process is part of a broader project that includes databasing high-quality digital images of Australian commercial and bycatch species to assist in the standardisation process.

The marketing names of all commercial species were standardised by the Fish Names Committee during production of the Australian Seafood Handbook - an Identification Guide to Domestic Species, released by CSIRO in 1999.

The names have since been formalised in the 'Australian Fish Names List' through Seafood Services Australia. Senior editor of the Australian Seafood Handbook, CSIRO's Gordon Yearsley, says that once the standardised common names are introduced, uniform names will appear in fish books, fishing magazines, government reports, pet shops and seafood outlets.

The common names process is part of a broader project that includes databasing high-quality digital images of Australian commercial and bycatch species to assist in the standardisation process.

These images will be available online as part of Australia's fisheries coding system, Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota. The system will include images of thousands of species plus common name and marketing name information.

"The project will benefit all sectors of industry, research agencies and the public," Dr Last says.

"Confusion will be reduced across the country by simplifying fish names while improving the accuracy of species identification."

Public comments on the proposed names are requested via the Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota website (http://www.marine.csiro.au/caab).

For more information:
Dr Peter Last, CSIRO Marine Research (03) 6232 5356, peter.last@csiro.au
Gordon Yearsley CSIRO Marine Research (03) 6232 5144, gordon.yearsley@csiro.au
Alan Snow, Secretary of the Fish Names Committee 1300 130 321, alansnow@seafoodservices.com.au
Bryony Bennett, CSIRO Marine Research communication group, (03) 6232 5261, bryony.bennett@csiro.au

CSIRO Marine Research: www.marine.csiro.au

Australian Fish Names List: www.seafoodservices.com.au/fishnames/

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