Victorian Fisheries Authority acting chief executive officer Luke O’Sullivan said trout cod were an endangered native species related to Murray cod, that were once common across many of Victoria’s northern rivers.
Victorian Government’s funding is expanding the VFA’s Snobs Creek hatchery, near Eildon, so it can produce larger numbers of trout cod fingerlings every year.
“Establishing new breeding populations of trout cod in north-east rivers will make a real difference to the recovery of this important native species in the wild,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
This season, the VFA has stocked trout cod fingerlings into two north-east waterways for the first time to establish self-sustaining populations.
The King River near Cheshunt was stocked with 15,000 trout cod fingerlings and the Corryong-Jerimal Creek with 6000.
Fisheries managers hope the stocked trout cod will breed among themselves in a few years’ time once mature, to further hasten the species’ recovery in the wild.
The Goulburn River, which has been stocked with nearly 115,000 trout cod since 2014, received 21,800 fingerlings this season and Seven Creeks, near Euroa, got 2100.
In the Upper Goulburn River, from Jamieson to Kevington, a different approach will be employed to help trout cod get a foothold in waters they once inhabited.
Mature trout cod will be translocated from lakes Sambell and Kerferd, near Beechworth, to re-establish a population in this stretch of the Upper Goulburn River.
It is estimated about 40 mature trout cod will be moved, 10 of which will be implanted with acoustic tags to monitor their movements upstream and downstream over time.
Signage at key access points along the river will educate freshwater anglers on trout cod’s plight and foster an appreciation for the species in places they once thrived.
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