February 23, 2021
The Victorian Fisheries Authority is consulting with recreational fishers on a proposal to improve freshwater fishing opportunities by removing the Murray Cod closed season in all waters of the Wimmera and Millicent basins, except the Wimmera River.
Removing Murray Cod closed season at Lake Eildon has been very successful in easing fishing pressure from rivers and providing fishers with a place to fish during the spring closed season when Murray Cod naturally breed in our rivers.
Background
In 2020, VRFish wrote to the Victorian Fisheries Authority requesting that Murray Cod closed season be removed in the Wimmera and Millicent basins. For the following reasons:
- The Wimmera and Millicent basins are outside the natural range for Murray cod
- Murray cod are stocked annually into waters within these basins (two million Murray cod stocked since 2000), creating put-and-take Murray cod fisheries at places such as Taylors Lake, Lake Charlegrark, Rocklands Reservoir and Lake Bellfield
- Natural recruitment of Murray cod in these waters is typically low, meaning the closed season has very little benefit to the Murray cod populations and fisheries
- Lifting the closed season on these waters will provide year-round Murray cod fishing and a valuable boost to regional businesses in the Wimmera and Millicent basins that depend on tourism
- Lifting the closed season on these waters will shift fishing pressure from natural systems where Murray cod do breed
To contribute your views to the VRFish submission, please contact VRFish via [email protected].
To provide your own submission directly to the Victorian Fisheries Authority, email [email protected] by 5pm Sunday 28 March 2021.
