Estuary Perch stocking in Lake Tyers

Update: More EP Fingerlings released into Lake Tyers 25 Nov 2018.

It will be interesting to see if this results in more EP catches as the last release was only a short few months before and opening. With the prolonged closure of the sandbar in the last two years, maybe we will get a local population of EP hanging around longer in the lake.

25,000 EP Fingerlings released in at Nowa Nowa 4th Jan 2016.

Lake Tyers was stocked with 25,000 Estuary Perch fingerlings today and released in the lower sections of  Lake Tyers.
These fish were found in commercial quantities early last century and in recent years has seen a steady decline in stock numbers.  These fingerlings are the offspring of mature fish caught by experienced anglers early in 2015 at Marlo and Bemm River.  The fish spawned successfully at the hatchery at Narooma (NSW) and grown to fingerling stage.  Other lakes in western and central Victoria have been regularly stocked with  Estuary Perch over the last few years and a vigorous campaign was necessary by John Harrison to have the same organised for Lake Tyers.
The stocking has the support of the people working for the "Target One Million" and approved by Executive Director of Fishing, Travis Dowling and coordinated by Craig Ingram. Bemm River was also rewarded with 5,000 fingerlings to the delight of local fishing guru, Don Cunningham.

Blake Harrison, John and Beth Harrison's grandson presented sample bag of Estuary Perch fingerlings to the crowd so they could appreciate how big (or small? ;-) ) they were. As a LTBAC Junior Champion he could be the most likely person to catch a sample of these magnificent fish in the near future.	Three boats were fitted with smaller tanks and oxygenators to transport the fish up the arms of the lake to weedy locations and have them in tip-top condition for release.
This is the tank that the 25,000 juveniles Estuary Perch were transported in from the hatcheries in Narooma.	The  system had an extra oxygen supply with another one for backup.
John Harrison, who has promoted this release for many years, explains to local news reporter Phil Furlong the technical details of the release.	The transport system was a well planned operation and in skilled hands very few fingerlings were lost in this part of the process.
The fingerlings will take about 2 or more years to be of a length that anglers can keep.  Depending on the food chain at the time this maturation may be quicker or slower.	It will be a great day when Estuary Perch are gain caught in such numbers in Lake Tyers that they can be added in their own right to the "Fish of Lake Tyers" page.