Baitworms

Hi Savagelip,We are still working on our baitworm culture research, unfortunately setbacks get thrown at us and these things take time to get around/over.We are currently on hold awaiting the outcome of a request to change details of our next 'chunk' of research funds.We are hoping to get back into the full swing of things by mid next year, the plans are still the same just the timeframe that has shifted.Latest news is that we have had talks with an industry partner interested in culturing our worms as part of a waste mitigation initiative on their abalone farm.All is still good on the baitworm culture front just not going as fast as we would have hoped.Sam

Beach/bungum worms are in the family OnuphidaeNereididae > centipede worms/ sand wormsI suspect they will be a similar species to what I have heard referred to as spagetti worms. I have dug them from around the west beach area and they are thinner and much more fragile than a bungum worm.

bit confused.. (Perinereis vallata)are they beach worms? [attachment=14007]tennyson2011007.JPG[/attachment]these beachworms a.k.a bungumworms were pulled local..

Sam' date=' I can see great benefits for the angling community, hopefully along with another successful SA business enterprise.Live worms make a great bait for a number of species, they can be difficult to obtain, they can be expensive when purchased.A ready supply at a reasonable price would be a great benefit to the angling community.Likewise, if the angling community can be of assistance during the development stage, you would have our full support, with a view towards a successful venture.Best of luck for the PhD, I'd be interested to read your research paper once completed, and if the staff from this website can offer any assistance in regards to networking with the angling community, or with angling advice, don't hesitate to make contact and we'll do whatever we can to assist.....we have numbers, we have contacts, we have exposure, we have local knowledge.Ya can count me in on the trials too! I'd be keen to give em a go on the beaches for Whiting, and in the estuaries for Bream. [/quote'] I am officially blown away by the help and support I have received today and I look forward to working alongside some of you in the not too distant future.It makes planning, and just life in general, so much easier when you know there is help out there.Thanks

Hi Baitworms' date=' welcome to the forum! I love the initiative and couldn't think of a better control groups than the SA fishing forums!I started out fishing with baitworms and they're probably my fave bait for catching anything that swims!I did stop buying them months back due to the expense and sometimes rarity of them, $8-10 for 4 or 5 worms is just too expensive for someone who fishes mainly for food, especially when a block of pilchards can be had for a good price.All that said, i would love to give your baitworms a go and give all the feedback you want; if you guys can make a large enough scale of farming to be competitive, it looks like i might buy them up again someday.Feel free to PM me if you want to collect contact details etc. [/quote']Hi Shimsman I am still months away from collecting names and will probably approach the moderators as suggested earlier so that we can collect contact details in a single easy to find place.Thanks for the encouragement (everyone seems to view this as a positive thing, which is nice).Great intro to your forum

Congrats finishing your PhD' date=' now you just have to wait a year or so for your supervisor to sign it off, get it peer reviewed and do your changes etc then finally graduate sometime this decade You'll be signing letters with Dr before you know it :)Exactly which type of worm are you culturing?I only know of bloodworms, tubeworms, bungum worms and seaweed worms....and as far as I am aware you could call all of them 'sandworms'?If you are culturing bungums, I reckon you're onto a winner. And if you can do seaweed worms that's a whole new market. I'm sure Kelvin can help you find some ;)Bungums are gun bait for whiting, but difficulty of collection, lack of supply and hence high price stops people from using them.If they were a decent price/bait and in regular supply they'd probably be used a lot more.The 'go to' bait is still cockles for most people, coz its what they know.But you know all this already from your previous study.I predict your user/potential customer survey will show that the average joe wouldn't have to foggiest on how to use worms effectively, they would then compare them to another bait like cockles, and you won't really gain much from the exercise.Even so, I reckon its a goer and you're going to do well from your venture. Even better that you are a local.[/quote']They are a species of nereid or centipede worm. I was put onto them by some old anglers at Pt Noarlunga, they used to be a regular bait item until the Marine Reserve was established in the 70s or 80s after which it was off limits to SA anglers. It is only found in two other places in the state (that I can find reference to) one is off the Aldinga Reef (protected) and the other is off Ceduna so none of these are easily accessed.Adult worms are 10 - 15 cm long and a couple of mm wide, the accepted size for bait (interstate and overseas) is greater than 600mg or 0.6 g. My profile picture is the species I am culturing (Perinereis vallata if that helps ).I have already had a chat with one of my supervisors re. target audience and we will be taking the advice of forum members and trying to get our 'taste testers' from your and other angling forums. If I can get 100 from here then I won't look elsewhere. You seem to have a handle on the PhD and science process so would understand that I need a decent sample size for the results to mean anything.Will keep you postedSam (female)

Yeah my point exactly' date=' and a sub-option to indicate where you will use them e.g- Bottom of Yorkes from a Jetty or Nth Metro from the beach. Then your sample size will cover a range of different places and platforms making your experiment a fair test![/quote']Callop hunter you're closet scientist!!!!!!!You have the right idea, I will change one of my questions to include platform/ locations.Thanks for the fantastic input :cheer:

id be in. would said worms if ready available drive the prices of worms down? that would make a lot of fishos happy campers

If its possible maybe one of the mods could start a thread or a petition of some sorts?

4thalove,We tried tubeworms but seeing as they are already cultured in NSW and are more difficult to harvest (ours don't have a tube) we focussed on sandworms.Haven't quite got the PhD yet, the work is done but the pain is still ongoing :SI would love to get my hands on some seaweed worms, have been out a few times but never managed to find them.Not sure I understand your reference to 'clones', our worms are from a wild caught population which breed just like any other worms no Frankenstein business just worm farming.Great to see so much interest

Hi Crispy that's the idea.We are almost at the pilot-scale commercial stage so keep your eyes peeled.I conducted a baitshop survey in 2008 which identified a lack of regular/reliable suppliers of baitworms along with a need so we took it on.

OK just to take this a step further, I would need a sample size of at least 100 anglers, is that likely if I use forums to recruit?

Thanks for that.Glad I tried this approach before we get the go-ahead, by incorporating your suggestions we can get much more meaningful feedback.Great suggestions, fully agree, hadn't thought of that aspect (not being a fisherman!!!).I think using the forums is going to be the best approach as the feedback in the last hour has shown.Thanks again

Hi CFR,That's a definite possibility, I will include that in ethics application so we can reach a wider audience.Thanks for your input

Hi all,I am new to this forum but hopefully have something to offer the angling community and something to gain for my research.I have just completed my PhD developing culture protocols for marine baitworms (Flinders University). We can now successfully grow and produce sandworms and have reached the point of planning some market research.We plan to visit jetties and boat ramps later in the year (probably after July) with free samples of our worms which will be handed out in return for the completion of a survey (online or hard copy). The survey will report upon the following: how easy they are to load on hooks, how well they stayed on hook, if they stayed active once on hook, if they are effective, what species are caught (and how many of each species), would you buy these worms, were the worms still alive at the end of the trip, would you have liked more worms than provided with, would you recommend our worms to friends. Have we missed anything??? I am jumping through administrative hoops ATM with ethics applications so it will take a while before we get the go-ahead.I just thought I would throw the idea out there and see what response we might get. Also seeing as we are at the development stage I would like to ask if anyone has any good ideas about how to get feedback on our worms.I look forward to some interesting replies.Sam