By JOLENE OGLE
“THEY’RE as tough as old boots,” said Gwen Gilson of Sunland Fish Hatchery, as she sent 20,000 Silver Perch fingerlings swimming into Lake MacDonald, last Wednesday.
The fingerlings, donated by Gwen to the Stocking Association, will be an extra boost for the lake’s fish stocks and Stocking Association president Peter Arch hopes the new additions will add to the fishing experience for locals and visitors.
“We predominately put in about 20,000 to 30,000 bass every year, and then what’s left over money-wise, we buy yellow belly,” he said.
“We’ve actually been getting, last year, some small yellow belly being caught.”
“It will be interesting to see how many perch we get in the next couple of years, especially with 20,000 going in as that’s how many bass we would put in.”
Locals and visitors won’t have to wait long to try for perch, with the fingerlings expected to grow 2mm a day, reaching three-quarters of a kilo within the year.
The fingerlings are the first to be released from Gwen’s new hatchery and Gwen couldn’t be more proud of the little guys.
“They’re just beautiful,” she said.
“Releasing them is my favourite part.”
The restocking of local lakes by stocking associations is integral to the survival of our lakes and dams, Gwen said.
“No fish that grows to any substantial size will breed and reproduce itself on the eastern side of the Great Divide,” she said.
“Silver perch are native to the Murray Darling system. Otherwise these guys wouldn’t need me. There would be no such thing as a hatchery.
“As soon as you got a fish, they would just breed. Because they don’t, that’s why they set up the regional stocking groups to control and help get fingerlings for their dams.”
Gwen said she looks forward to releasing more fish throughout the year.
