Hodgkinson med rel: Thanks a million – major fish boost for NSW

Fishing enthusiasts from across NSW will benefit from a major inland native fish stocking program, where more than one million fish have been released into lakes, dams, rivers and weirs across NSW, Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson said today.

Ms Hodgkinson stopped in at the Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) Narrandera Fisheries Centre, where the fish have been produced, as part of her visit to the Riverina today.

“There are a million more reasons to throw a line in with these additional fish to boost fish stocks across NSW,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

“As part of the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government’s Native Fish Stocking Program, fish have been released into local waterways near Albury, Ashford, Bathurst, Cowra, Griffith, Inverell, Hay, Jerilderie, Mudgee, Narrandera, Orange, Queanbeyan, Scone, Singleton, Tamworth, Tumut, Urana, Wagga Wagga, Wellington, and Yass.

“Some of the water bodies have needed the boost to fish numbers as a result of drought and are now showing good signs of recovery, thanks to recent rain.

“Many anglers are reporting good catches following past releases and now there are a million more fish in the system, which will be at an angling size in around three years.

“Staff from our Narrandera Fisheries Centre have had a busy couple of months getting the golden perch, Murray cod, and silver perch fingerlings ready for release.”

Ms Hodgkinson said the season began with the first stocking in December and the final fish will be released at Lake Talbot near Narrandera in the last week of April.

“The fish stocking program is supported by money raised from the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, and aims to enhance recreational fishing opportunities for the State’s fishers,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

“Fish released this season include 525,000 Murray cod, 595,000 golden perch and 5000 silver perch.”

Ms Hodgkinson also met with research scientists at DPI Narrandera Fisheries Centre, which is the key freshwater fish research facility for the NSW Government.

“There is some great research underway at Narrandera focusing on such aquatic biodiversity as the threatened Macquarie perch, fishery enhancement, fish habitat improvement, minimising threats to fishery resources, sustainable fish harvest and ecosystem assessment,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

“Researchers use a range of interesting techniques as part of their projects including electronic tagging to track fish; sampling of eggs and larvae in rivers to identify key breeding locations of native species; and habitat mapping.”

Caption: Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson with assistant hatchery manager Lachie Jess holding Golden Perch fingerlings, which are part of the one million native fish released this season.