Since the start of March 228,000 Golden Perch have been released into rivers and dams across the region, in a huge boost to the local recreational fishing fraternity, Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders announced today.
Mr Saunders was on hand as the last of the juvenile fish were stocked into the Macquarie River, and said the releases were part of the NSW Government’s $10 million Native Fish Rescue Program.
“More than 228,000 is simply a mammoth number of fish,” Mr Saunders said.
“It’s even better that these Golden Perch have all gone into waterways in the Dubbo, Mudgee and Wellington regions, and on top of that, they’re Australian natives. This is fantastic news.”
Since last week 45,000 fingerlings went into Lake Windamere, Burrendong Dam welcomed 64,000, Buckinbah Creek and Little River near Wellington had 3000 released into it, and the last of more than 100,000 fish were stocked into the Macquarie on Thursday.
“Never before have we had such a huge number of fish released into our waterways in such a short space of time,” Mr Saunders said.
“Dubbo has been at the forefront of some of the worst drought conditions seen across the State, but now that conditions have improved, these restocking initiatives will be crucial to the recovery of our waterways and fish populations.”
Mr Saunders said the fingerlings had been bred from broodstock at the NSW Government’s flagship native fish hatchery at Narrandera.
“This will help to ensure our waterways remain fully stocked of healthy fish, now and into the future,” Mr Saunders said.
“The juveniles released into the Macquarie River were actually bred from fish rescued from this very same waterway during the drought.”
For more information on the NSW Government’s fish stocking initiatives, visit the NSW DPI website https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/resources/stocking.