Record Numbers Of Stocked Murray Cod

[Ken A]

The State Government’s fish stocking program has reached new heights with a record 669,000 Murray cod released into freshwater dams across NSW this year.

Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Freshwater Fisheries Manager, Craig Watson, said this year’s stocking beats the previous record set in 04/05 by 126,000 fish.

“This is great news for inland anglers who can look forward to catching the highly prized Murray Cod when they reach legal length of 50 cm in about two to three years.

“All of these nearly 700,000 fish were bred at the DPI Fisheries Centre at Narrandera and were released into selected waterways over the past two months,” Mr Watson said.

Murray cod are found right through the Murray Darling Basin – ranging from west of the Divide through south-east Queensland, NSW, into Victoria and South Australia.

DPI has provided more than $1 million for its stocking program this year with fish stocking heavily supported by the Recreational Fishing Trusts which have contributed $335,000 to this year’s program.

“This is another great example of fishers licence fees working for them.

“Funds raised from the sale of the recreational fishing licence are placed into two Trusts, one for saltwater and the other for freshwater.

“Expenditure from both of these Recreational Fishing Trusts is overseen by expert panels on behalf of the recreational fishing community. Trust funds can only be spent on projects that improve recreational fishing.

Fishing is a very popular pastime in NSW with about one million anglers throwing in a line each year. The spin-off benefits to regional economies, in terms of tourism and employment cannot be overstated,” Mr Watson said.

To view the the full list of Murray Cod stockings please follow this link Cod Stocking Table