Help Bring The Silver Perch Back From The Brink

[Ken A]

The NSW Government has launched a detailed recovery plan for one of the State’s most popular recreational angling fish – the silver perch.

Decades of overfishing has taken a toll on silver perch populations, which have been listed as vulnerable since 2000.

Anglers could once catch silver perch in large numbers in the Murray-Darling region – mainly in the Murray River and tributaries.

However, there are now only a few isolated populations left and fishers are not currently permitted to catch the silver perch in the wild.

The Government’s vision is for wild stocks to return to a sustainable level, which will be a boost for recreational angling and also a boost for tourism in rural and regional NSW.

To achieve this, a draft recovery plan has been launched for the threatened silver perch to help bring it back from the brink.

The plan includes further research and monitoring, improving community awareness, restoring habitat and managing aquaculture, stocking and fishing.

The silver perch is already the focus of a major aquaculture industry, which is rare for a species which is threatened in the wild.

The State Government has pioneered silver perch farming techniques and the growing industry is currently worth around $2.8 million a year.

A total of 34 dams and lakes were stocked with 864,900 silver perch in 2003-04 and these are already popular tourist angling attractions.

Anyone with an interest in threatened fish species is encouraged to have a say in the future management of silver perch and make formal submissions on the draft recovery plan.

The draft silver perch recovery plan is available by calling (02) 4916 3811.

Submissions close on 8 April 2005.

It is currently illegal to catch, keep, buy, sell or possess silver perch from the natural environment, apart from dams and lakes which have been stocked.

This information is reproduced with the permission of NSW Department of Primary Industries

[granpop]

Love to help the Silvers, BUT, they are extremely susceptible to predation by Gambusia (Mosquito Fish) when in the laval stage. The Research Station at Narrandera identified the mosquito fish as a major cause in the Silver Perch decline along with professional fishing in inland rivers. They are also susceptible to carp stirring up their environment.

In the 60s & 70s (before carp) I used to regularly catch them in the 'Bidgee near Canberra and in Burrinjuck. Now - nothing.

They used to be stocked in Canberra's lakes but the local managers reckon they are water soluble, and now concentrate on Yellas and Cod.

They are great to catch and good eating, but the only ones caught lately have been out in the Cooper & its tributaries in Qld.