GEELONG\u2019S recreational anglers have reason to celebrate thanks to the inaugural stocking of estuary perch into the Barwon River.<\/p>\n
About 45,000 estuary perch were released last week near Highton, with the help of fishers from the Torquay Angling Club, Geelong and District Angling Club, South West Angling Association, and the Geelong Gun and Rod Association.<\/p>\n
These fish join 30,000 others that were stocked in December near Queens Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis historic stocking has been funded by fishing licence fees and the State Government\u2019s Target One Million plan that aims to get more people fishing, more often,\u201d Victorian Fisheries Authority chief executive officer Travis Dowling said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to the Barwon River, we have also recently stocked the Maribyrnong River (133,000) and Snowy River (12,500) for the first time ever with estuary perch.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year we stocked a record six million fish and thanks to the government\u2019s ongoing commitment to recreational fishing, we\u2019ll be increasing that to 10 million fish by 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is good news for everybody who loves casting a line in Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Victoria was the only state to stock estuary perch on a large scale, and more than 800,000 fish have been released into 18 waterways since 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hard work is paying off and growth rates have exceeded our expectations. We\u2019re now seeing estuary perch over 27cm caught in the stocked waters of Devilbend Reservoir, Albert Park Lake, Werribee River, Lake Hamilton and Lake Struan.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuge thanks go to the competition anglers and volunteers who help us every year catch the broodfish used in our perch breeding program. Their passion and commitment to the cause is central to the success of the program and our mission to improve recreational fishing for all Victorians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Dowling said the perch stocked into the Barwon River will take about three years to reach a catchable size.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re itching to cast a line now, there\u2019s no need to wait because the lower Barwon and estuary has good numbers of bream and the occasional trophy-sized mulloway to try your luck on.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information on the perch stocking program, head to vfa.vic.gov.au\/estuaryperch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEELONG\u2019S recreational anglers have reason to celebrate thanks to the inaugural stocking of estuary perch into the Barwon River. About 45,000 estuary perch were released last week near Highton, with the help of fishers from the Torquay Angling Club, Geelong and District Angling Club, South West Angling Association, and the Geelong Gun and Rod Association. […]<\/p>\n