Kings of all they survey

Juvenile kingfish are released into the sea off the Noises Islands. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

More than 1000 prized kingfish were yesterday returned to the wild in the Hauraki Gulf.

In 12 months of so, given a bit of luck, some will be reeled in by fishers chasing the sought-after sportfish.

The release off the Noises Islands was the first batch of 10 tonnes of kingfish being set free after the closure of a Far North fish farm.

About 400 of the fish were tagged for research purposes.

Recreational Fishing Council president Keith Ingram, who organised the project, said in all more than 10,000 kingfish would be released in the Gulf and Northland waters.

The fish had been destined to become crayfish bait after the closure of the Parengarenga Fish Farm.

Mr Ingram said about $25,000 was raised by recreational fishers to buy the fish. A further $30,000 to meet costs was donated by the fishing company Sanford.

Mr Ingram said the exercise provided a one-off opportunity to tag about 20 per cent of the kingfish so more could be learned about them.

"All our tagging to date has been done by recreational fishers who might tag one here and there."

The fish would take a year or more to reach the 75cm legal size.

It would be of interest to measure how fast they grew in the wild, whether they stayed together as a school and how far they ranged.