Present from Hervey Bay in Queensland southwards to Victoria, northern, eastern and western Tasmania as far as Macquarie Harbour, and South Australia as far west as the north coast of Kangaroo Island.

Commercial fishery: Commercial fishing for luderick takes place all year in estuaries, along coastal shores and in coastal lakes, from southern Queensland to Port Phillip Bay and northern Tasmania. Luderick are mostly fished at night, but when the fish are 'travelling', day fishing is more common. The catch is seasonal; for example, in southern Queensland the summer catch is about half the winter catch.

Along the central New South Wales coast, fish caught are between 22 cm and 36 cm FL (Ref. 27248, 28605). The highest catches, 2-3 times the rest of the year's catches, are made off the beaches during the autumn - early winter 'travelling season' (Ref. 5962). For example, in April-May 1991, 66 t were caught on the beaches around Port Stephens in a 5-week period. Luderick taken from the Tuggerah Lakes to the Hastings River, including the Myall and Wallis lakes, comprise the bulk of the New South Wales commercial catch.

In Tuggerah Lakes, the luderick catch increased over the period 1946-1977 (Ref. 28604), the average annual catch over the period 1975 to 1978 being 62 t (Ref. 28604). With the development in the early 1970s of the Vales Point power station and associated increase in water temperature, the luderick catch in Lake Macquarie has increased (Ref. 28605).

In Moreton Bay, the commercial fishery targets 4-year-old to 6-year-old fish (Ref. 5962), and about 50 t are taken each year. This represents about 90% of the Queensland annual commercial catch of luderick, and much of that is taken south of Mud Island in the Bay.

In Queensland, most luderick are caught by tunnel nets staked and set out on intertidal areas (Ref. 5962). The fish are trapped as the tide ebbs. The tunnel nets may be up to 1700 m long, and usually have a small mesh (5 cm stretched size). Gillnets up to 1450 m long are used in estuaries, and beach seine, haul and pound ('figure 6') nets are used for 'travelling' fish on ocean beaches in New South Wales from the Clarence River to Eden, in Victoria (Ref. 28604, 27248, 28605) and off northern Tasmania.

In the Tamboon Inlet, Victoria, luderick is a bycatch of the black bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri) fishery (Ref. 27248). In Queensland and New South Wales, luderick schools move and shelter with mullet (family Mugilidae) and yellowfin bream (Acanthopagrus australis) schools, and form an incidental catch of those species.

In Mallacoota Inlet, Victoria, annual catches display considerable inter-annual variation which is typical of estuarine dependent species whose recruitment is determined mainly by environmental factors. Varies from 35 t (1923) to 1 t (1930). A significant proportion of total luderick catch is sold locally in Victoria or New South Wales.

In Lake Tyers, Victoria, from1979 to1993, catches peaked at 14.3 t in 1990. Luderick is on average, 16.7 % of the total catch fromthis waterway.

Luderick should be bled immediately on capture, filleted and skinned, and washed in changes of seawater. The entire catch of luderick is sold on the domestic market in Australia. Salted luderick is also used as bait for the rock lobster (Jasus species) fishery in New South Wales. They do not fetch high price.

Recreational fishery: Luderick are keenly sought by amateur fishers. They rank among the most popular recreational fish in Moreton Bay, Lake Macquarie, Tuggerah Lakes, Sydney Harbour and associated waterways (Port Hacking, Botany Bay) and Port Phillip Bay. In 1 year alone (1978-79) in Tuggerah Lakes, 71,388 fish weighing 21.5 t were landed by amateur fishers (Ref. 28604). The number of fish caught almost equaled the number taken in the commercial luderick fishery in the Lakes over the same period, although they represented only 85% of the weight of the commercial fish yield (i.e. some fish were undersized). In Lake Macquarie, the amateur catch is only slightly less than the commercial catch (Ref. 28605).

Fishing for luderick is considered by amateur fishers to be one of the more specialised techniques, requiring a generally high level of proficiency. Most fishing takes place in winter. Fish are caught with handlines and long rods with light lines, from boats, jetties and the shore (rock walls and rocky headlands). 'Green weed' (filamentous green algae), cabbage weed or prawns are used for bait. According to the Australian Anglers Association records, the largest luderick caught by an amateur weighed 3.88 kg (from New South Wales).

Resource status: The resource status is largely unknown. Luderick abundance fluctuates widely, probably as a result of alterations to the habitat, vulnerability to seine nets and changing targeting preference by fishers (Ref. 27248). In New South Wales, there have been reports that luderick numbers are increasing, probably because of increased algal abundance, itself the product of increased organic run-off into estuaries and coastal lakes.

Also Ref. 2158.