April 22, 2024
It’s time to have your say on the draft fish stocking plan.
The Victorian Fisheries Authority have released the 2024/25 draft fish stocking plan for public consultation. The draft plan outlines the planned release of more than 10 million fish, across 12 species, into more than 220 Victorian waters between April 2024 and March 2025.
It’s your chance as recreational fishers to have your say on what you’d like to see stocked in your local waterway.
The Victorian Fisheries Authority’s fish stocking program aims to improve recreational fishing opportunities and rebuild native fish populations across the state.
Highlights in the 2024/25 Draft Stocking Plan include:
- Over 1 million native fish into Rocklands Reservoir
- Over 1 million fish into Lake Eildon, including 220,000 brown and rainbow trout
- 800,000 native fish into Lake Eppalock
- Over 80 Family Fishing Lakes to be stocked with catchable rainbow trout in June and September school holidays
- 16 metro lakes and the Goulburn River to be stocked with stonker rainbow trout
- Melton Reservoir to receive 140,000 native fish
- Lake Hume receiving 150,000 brown trout
- Gippsland Lakes to receive more than 100,000 estuary perch and dusky flathead
- Latrobe River to receive 40,000 Australian Bass
- Macalister River near Licola to receive 10,000 Australian bass
- Campaspe River to receive 215,000 native fish including 15,000 trout cod (first time stocking)
- Barwon River stocked with 70,000 estuary perch
- Lakes Kerferd and Sambell to be stocked with silver perch, golden perch and rainbow trout
- Lake Elingamite to receive 15,000 Australian Bass
- Expedition Pass Reservoir to receive golden perch and rainbow trout
- Goulburn River – Upstream of Kevington to be stocked with trout cod
- Kiewa River to receive 30,000 Macquarie perch and 20,000 trout cod
- Wurdiboluc Reservoir receiving 30,000 brown and rainbow trout
The number of proposed fish included in the 2024/25 draft fish stocking plan include:
- Australian bass: 403,000
- Brown trout: 666,500
- Chinook salmon: 90,000
- Dusky flathead: 21,100
- Estuary perch: 330,000
- Golden perch: 4,567,500
- Macquarie perch: 100,000
- Murray cod: 2,983,000
- Rainbow trout: 544,190
- Silver perch: 521,500
- Tiger trout: 10,000
- Trout cod: 100,000
- Grand Total: 10,336,790
To have your say on the 2024/25 Draft Fish Stocking Plan, please email your submissions to the Victorian Fisheries Authority’s Taylor Hunt, Fisheries Manager at [email protected] by Sunday 26th of May 2024.
All submissions will be considered by the Victorian Fisheries Authority and tabled with regional recreational fishing representatives at the annual Vic Fish Stock meetings, planned to be held in May-June 2024.
HAVE YOUR SAY
VRFish would like to hear your views so that we can incorporate your ideas into our VRFish submission. You can do this by dropping us a line at [email protected]
