Following some solid spawning activity in broodstock ponds, the dedicated team at our native fish hatchery at the Narrandera Fisheries Centre is quietly optimistic of a bumper Murray Cod stocking season.
Broodstock cod at the hatchery breed in ponds in specially designed spawning boxes. Fertilised eggs are collected and kept in tanks inside the hatchery until larval cod emerge. This process usually takes about 12 days. The larval cod are then stocked into outside ponds where they feed on plankton until being harvested at around 35-40mm and stocked across the State.
As you read this, there are hundreds of thousands of juvenile Murray Cod in the larval rearing ponds at our Narrandera facility.
All going to plan, our hatchery team aims to harvest and stock around 800,000 Murray Cod fingerlings in the coming months. This important enhancement stocking work helps support key native fisheries, especially in popular impoundments such as Copeton, Blowering, Wyanagla, Burrendong, and Burrinjuck.
Stay tuned for more exciting updates and outcomes from this key program!
Our native fish stocking program is another great example of your recreational fishing fees at work!
