The Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) is calling for feedback on a plan to fill the ACT’s waterways with baby fish in a bid to relieve fishing pressure and help conserve native species.
Encouraging Canberrans to have their say on the draft ACT Fisheries Management Plan: Fish Stocking 2022–2027, the Minister for Water, Shane Rattenbury said the proposed Plan would offer greater protection to native fish species, improve catchment health, and maintain viable recreational fishing locations for the community.
“We want to balance recreational fishing opportunities and stocking with the ability of native fish populations to breed, mature and maintain their important role in aquatic ecosystems,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“Updates to the regulations on the take limit for Golden Perch, restricted areas for Murray Cod, and classifications of trout waters and prohibited waters will ensure that native fish populations are able to thrive in ACT waterways.”
Minister for the Environment, Rebecca Vassarotti said the increase in fishing pressure combined with declining fish populations meant that greater fisheries management was required.
“The proposed Stocking Plan aids in the conservation of native fish species by relieving fishing pressure in our natural rivers and helping to establish balanced lake ecosystems where fish may have been depleted,” Ms Vassarotti said.
“Surveys carried out by the ACT Government have shown that Murray Cod and Macquarie Perch are significantly less common in the ACT section of the Murrumbidgee River than they were 40 years ago,” she said.
“Both Trout Cod and Silver Perch have also become extinct in the ACT and are listed as threatened species.”
Ms Vassarotti said EPSDD’s proposed Stocking Plan would guide the stocking of Murray Cod and Golden Perch into Lake Ginninderra, Lake Tuggeranong, Gungahlin Pond and Yerrabi Pond at an approximate cost of $25,000 a year.
“The new plan also includes guidelines for stocking endangered fish species, stocking undertaken for scientific research, and will serve as a useful planning tool for fisheries managers and suppliers,” she said.
EPSDD’s 15-page draft Fish Stocking Plan can be accessed at this PS News link.
