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Stocking Program
The Service is committed to maintaining a diverse stocking policy that will meet the needs of today’s angling community.
The Service is committed to maintaining a diverse stocking policy that will meet the needs of today’s angling community. The current stocking program in conjunction with other fisheries development initiatives should see a continued improvement to Tasmania's inland fisheries.
Stocking Program
Each year the Service stocks a number of waters around the State, some of which are undertaken routinely, others are done on a need to basis. The Service uses fish from commercial hatcheries as well as those grown at the Salmon Ponds and harvested from the wild.
Importantly wild stocks are preferred, especially where there is a naturally recruiting population of the species to be stocked. WIld trout, predominantly brown trout, fisheries are what Tasmania is famous for and the stocking program aims to support this.
Domestic stocks (fish that have been hatchery bred and reared for more than one generation) are used where there is little or no natural recruitment, either due to inadequate spawning facilities or where there is a large population of redfin perch. Such fisheries rely on stocking to sustain them and are often referred to as put and take fisheries.
Transfers of adult brown trout still form an important part of the annual stocking program with anywhere from 5000 to 12000 fish transferred each year, mostly from the Liawenee Canal spawning run. The average size of the adult brown trout used is approximately 1 kg, some fish can be as large as 4 kg.
Eggs are taken from fish in the Liawenee spawning run and raised at the Salmon Ponds hatchery for restock into several waters to enhance natural populations of brown trout.
Rainbow trout eggs are harvested from the Liawenee Canal spawning run and taken back to the Salmon Ponds for ongrowning. The resulting fry and fingerlings are mostly returned to Great Lake to boost the stocks but a few thousand are used at selected waters where the management aims are to protect wild rainbow stocks. Penstock Lagoon and Little Blue Lagoon are two such waters.
Domestic rainbow trout are used to stock the majority of our waters and these are sourced from commercial hatcheries. These rainbows are an important part of the fishery, giving angling opportunities to new comers to the sport.
Brook trout have long been a novelty species in the Tasmanian inland fishery but developments since 2002 have lead to some exciting stocking opportunities with this species.
Wild stocks of brook trout are maintained with some supplementary stocking at Clarence Lagoon and lakes of the Henty-Anthony scheme on the west coast (lakes Plimsol, Selina and Rolleston).
Domestic stocks come from commercial hatcheries that have been producing brook trout for sea cage farming since 2002. A large supply of domestic brook trout has allowed the Service to use brook trout at numerous waters around the State, the Bradys chain, Craigbourne Dam, Lake Leake, Brushy Lagoon and Lake Kara for example.
Ex-broodstock salmon have been used at Meadowbank Lake as an enticement to anglers at the start of each season since 1996. Since 2004 there has been an increasingly regular supply of these large ex-broodstock fish available to the Service for stocking public waters. Salmon of up to 15 kg have been stocked at Bradys Lake, Craigbourne Dam, Brushy Lagoon, Lake Barrington and Lake Trevallyn in recent years. These stockings have proved very popular, giving anglers a chance to hook and possibly land very large freshwater fish.
Stocking Database
You can look up the records of what species have been stocked in various waters around the State over the past 5 years by visiting the Stocking Database.
