February 12, 2025
It’s time to have your say on the draft fish stocking plan.
The Victorian Fisheries Authority have released the 2025/26 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 240 Victorian waters between July 2025 and June 2026.
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.
Key highlights in the 2025-26 draft stocking include:
- Over 1 million native fish into Rocklands Reservoir
- Over 80 Family Fishing Lakes to be stocked with catchable rainbow trout in June and September school holidays
- Over 1 million fish into Lake Eildon, including 220,000 brown and rainbow trout
- 16 metro lakes and the Goulburn River to be stocked with stonker rainbow trout
- 800,000 native fish into Lake Eppalock
- Devilbend Reservoir brown trout increased from 10,000 to 15,000
- Lake Glenmaggie rainbow trout increased to 15,000, plus 2,000 brown trout
- Dusky flathead stocking in Gippsland Lakes, Bemm River and Mallacoota inlet
- Melton Reservoir to receive 140,000 native fish
- Campaspe River to receive 215,000 native fish including 15,000 more trout cod
- Goulburn River – Upstream of Kevington to be stocked with more trout cod
- Kiewa River to continue to receive 30,000 Macquarie perch and 20,000 trout cod
- Timbarra River bass doubled to 20,000
- Lake Elingamite bass increased to 15,000
- Merri river to be stocked with 10,000 estuary perch for the first time complementing river health initiatives
- Flooding Creek (Port of Sale) to receive 5,000 estuary perch
- Dunyak Moira first time stocking and to receive 10,000 golden perch each year
- Arcadia “fish out” Pondage to receive annual stocking of 100 on-grown cod
- Nursery Reservoir (Macedon) and Shadforth Reserve Island Pond to receive 2nd stocking of on grown rainbows in T3 holidays
To have your say on the 2024/25 Draft Fish Stocking Plan, please email your submissions to Mark Adams, Fisheries Manager at [email protected] by Sunday 6th of April 2024.
All submissions will be considered by the VFA and tabled with regional recreational fishing representatives, including VRFish, at the annual Vic Fish Stock meetings, planned to be held in May-June 2025.
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]
