Recreational fishers can rejoice as the Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) wraps up a record-breaking fish stocking season which saw 1.27 million Murray Cod released into NSW waterways since July.
Minister for Agriculture and Western NSW, Dugald Saunders said the Department capped off the stocking season with a final stocking event on Monday (24 January), releasing 5,000 Murray Cod fingerlings into the Macquarie River at Dubbo.
Mr Saunders said the stocking season smashed the State’s previous stocking record of 780,000 fish in 2006-07.
“Stocking over a million fingerlings into NSW waterways is crucial to strengthening the Murray Cod populations and this record-breaking year is monumental following years of crippling drought,” he said.
Mr Saunders said the Murray Cod fingerlings were the progeny of fish rescued during the 2019 drought in a joint operation that involved NSW DPI Fisheries and volunteer fishers.
“I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all of the local recreational fishers and the community for the work they did to assist the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to rescue fish during the previous severe drought conditions,” he said.
“Their efforts were critical in being able to rescue the fish and be able to breed their progeny for release back into the system.
“The rescued fish have contributed over 500,000 fish that have been released into NSW waterways over the past two years.”
Mr Saunders said the Murray Cod fingerlings were bred at NSW DPI Fisheries’ flagship fish hatchery at Narrandera, as part of the State’s largest-ever breeding program.
