February 16, 2022
The first fish produced at the new native fish hatchery in Arcadia, near Shepparton, have been released into the Goulburn River. To mark the momentous occasion, more than 10,000 Golden perch fingerlings were stocked into the waterway.
In great news for native fishos, the new hatchery will focus on native species, such as Murray cod, golden perch and silver perch. Once at full capacity, it’s expected that the hatchery will produce 1.6 million native fish annually which will be released into Victorian waterways.
The Arcadia hatchery will assist in boosting our native fishing stocking efforts across the state and play an important role for the Victorian Fisheries Authority to achieve their ambitious commitment to stock 10 million fish annually by April 2022. It will also allow the existing Snobs Creek Hatchery to focus on salmonids, trout and cold-water native fish such as Macquarie perch and trout cod.
Based along the banks of the Goulburn River, there are 32 ponds within the new hatchery. This includes 20 plankton ponds for growing fingerlings and a further 12 ponds which will hold Murray cod and Golden perch broodfish.
By the end of this year, a visitor centre will be constructed at the site with a fish-themed playground, fish out pond and interactive displays.
Ahead of the last State Election, VRFish successfully advocated for a native fish hatchery to boost our freshwater fisheries stocking program which received bipartisan support.
The $7-million new native fish hatchery was a key commitment from the Andrews Labor Government’s Go Fishing Victoria plan.
FIND OUT WHAT’S BEEN STOCKED IN YOUR LOCAL WATERWAY
With 10-million fish set to be stocked annually across the state, there are ample opportunities to reel in a fish in more than 250 Victorian waterways.
Over the summer, the Victorian Fisheries Authority are generally stocking native fish which are now also stocked into metro-lakes so you can reel in Murray cod close to home. You can check out their Fish Stocking Database to see which fish have been stocked into your favourite waterway.
LET’S MAKE FISHING BETTER!
We value your local knowledge as to how our stocked fisheries are performing and how best to improve our fishing through fishing stocking.
If you have any comments or suggestions to make fishing better at your local waterway, please let us know via [email protected].
