- Fish Stocking
CVNFSA Inc. first stocked Lake Callide in April 1987. Since this time the
association has stocked the following:
Silver Perch: 73,319
Golden Perch: 552,501
Saratoga: 269
Sleepy Cod: 14,100
Barramundi: 303,181
The club first stocked Silver Perch and Golden Perch (Yellowbelly) and was funded by QDPI plus our own funds. In the early days of the clubs stocking efforts we had little money, and used to bolster the Government funding by holding an annual fishing competitiion.
In the beginning, we carried out a host of improvements to the pond area. The belting to the perimeter and full netting of the pond was done to prevent predation from the resident bird population. The netting proved unsuccessful and was later replaced with bird scare wire, which helps but is not 100% effective. A few years ago we had replaced the perimeter fence at a cost of $30000 with money from a grant.
Our group along with the Cania Fish Stocking Association began a lengthy process of trying to breed our own Yellowbelly. This would enable us to stock more fish with the limited funds we had. We added an aeration system to the pond utilizing an old dairy vacuum pump in reverse to pump air into the water when required. We caught broodstock male and female Yellowbelly, anesthetized them using clove oil collected and checked the eggs under a microscope to assess the viability of those eggs, and if any were suitable they were injected with a hormone to induce them to spawn. We placed them into a dark fibreglass tank with the males, and raised the water temperature. An occassional successful spawning would see a tank full of fertilized eggs up to 100,000. The adult fish are removed and the aerated water is kept at the correct temperature until the eggs hatched. After hatching the fry survive for approximately 1 week on an egg sack after which time they are transferred to the pond to be grown out. The pond had to be filled a few days before hand to establish a food source for the fry that wasn't too big for them and also to keep the predators to a minimum. As in all farming all the elements are against you. The fish survive on small invertebrates and grow to an approximate lenght of 50mm in 10 - 12 weeks. This time varies with the amount of fish in the pond and the available food supply. They are then harvested by draining the pond and collected in the harvest pit outside the pond area and put into aerated transport tanks where they are then measured, counted and released into the dam at various locations.
Barramundi fry had been purchased by CS Energy as a donation which is very much appreciated and grown out in the pond. We have not been able to do any grow outs for afew years due to the lack of water in the dam. We also cut back on numbers of fish stocked because of te low water levels. Now with the increased water levels we will ramp up stocking numbers again.
The past few years we have stocked approxiamately 200 Saratoga and we intend doing this for another couple of years, to try and establish a self sustaining population. We can only stock in small numbers because of the cost of these fish. An example of the costs envolved are barra are around 1 cent/mm which means a 50mm barra fingerling costs about 50 cents. A 50mm Yellowbelly would be around 25 cents and a 150mm Saratoga could cost $40 - $50 . This is because they are mouth brooders which means the eggs are carried and hatched in their mouths and can only produce 50 -100 fingerlings each time compared to a Yellowbelly that can produce 100,000.
Saratoga and Sleepy Cod can breed in impoundments where Barramundi and Yellowbelly don not. Barra need to go to sea to spawn and Yellowbelly need running water as in flooded rivers.
The fish that have been most successful in our dam have been the Yellowbelly and more recently the Barramundi. In the winter of 2007 we were dealt a blow from nature when after a string of very cold nights, combined with very low water levels a near 100% loss of barra occurred. This was a severe blow to the club and for the town as it was gaining notoriety for big fish over 1 meter and weighing up to 30kg. We are striving to restore to the levels pre 2007 and are seeing fish once again approaching and exceeding the 90cm mark so in the next few years are looking to be very promising.
After stcking, we carry out monitoring in conjunction with QDPI and Fisheries by means of netting surveys to try and ascertain the survival and growth rates of the stocked species, as well as to get a indication of species availability.
Approximately 5 years ago, the State Government introduced the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme (SIPS). This means to fish in dams that are covered by this scheme you must hold a permit. They very in cost from $36.05 for a year to $7.20 for a week which covers you and your partner. These funds are collected by QDPI and this is then distributed between all the stocking groups. The groups receives this money which enables them to purchase fingerlings to stock the dams ours being one of those dams listed in the scheme. This is a real boost for our small club, and relieves the pressure for fundraising to stock.
We have been holding fishing competitions every year since the 1990's to raise funds to assist stocking, as well as to promote tourism for our Valley. We have used funds to purchase and erect a new shed which will make it easier to hold the comps and provide a better facility for our patrons.
One of our aims is education and we try to educate people by warning them of the dangers of introducing non native species into our waterways. We are all aware of the cane toads, rabbits and foxes and the devastating effects they have had in Australia, this is the same for our waterways.
Another objective is to promote and foster fishing in the Biloela district as a recreational activity. A crucial part of this is to educate young anglers, by holding junior fishing clinics, usually 2 per year. At these clinics children are instructed in safety, basic knot tying, fish care, casting plus other facets of fishing. Thse clinics have proved to be very successful in encouraging young anglers, in pass years they have been held at Lake Callide and Dr. Tans Fish Farm.
Anybody inetrested in becoming a member of our association can do so by contacting any member or writing to the Secretary at PO Box 785 Biloela.
Artie Clapham.
Golden Perch: 552,501
Saratoga: 269
Sleepy Cod: 14,100
Barramundi: 303,181
The club first stocked Silver Perch and Golden Perch (Yellowbelly) and was funded by QDPI plus our own funds. In the early days of the clubs stocking efforts we had little money, and used to bolster the Government funding by holding an annual fishing competitiion.
In the beginning, we carried out a host of improvements to the pond area. The belting to the perimeter and full netting of the pond was done to prevent predation from the resident bird population. The netting proved unsuccessful and was later replaced with bird scare wire, which helps but is not 100% effective. A few years ago we had replaced the perimeter fence at a cost of $30000 with money from a grant.
Our group along with the Cania Fish Stocking Association began a lengthy process of trying to breed our own Yellowbelly. This would enable us to stock more fish with the limited funds we had. We added an aeration system to the pond utilizing an old dairy vacuum pump in reverse to pump air into the water when required. We caught broodstock male and female Yellowbelly, anesthetized them using clove oil collected and checked the eggs under a microscope to assess the viability of those eggs, and if any were suitable they were injected with a hormone to induce them to spawn. We placed them into a dark fibreglass tank with the males, and raised the water temperature. An occassional successful spawning would see a tank full of fertilized eggs up to 100,000. The adult fish are removed and the aerated water is kept at the correct temperature until the eggs hatched. After hatching the fry survive for approximately 1 week on an egg sack after which time they are transferred to the pond to be grown out. The pond had to be filled a few days before hand to establish a food source for the fry that wasn't too big for them and also to keep the predators to a minimum. As in all farming all the elements are against you. The fish survive on small invertebrates and grow to an approximate lenght of 50mm in 10 - 12 weeks. This time varies with the amount of fish in the pond and the available food supply. They are then harvested by draining the pond and collected in the harvest pit outside the pond area and put into aerated transport tanks where they are then measured, counted and released into the dam at various locations.
Barramundi fry had been purchased by CS Energy as a donation which is very much appreciated and grown out in the pond. We have not been able to do any grow outs for afew years due to the lack of water in the dam. We also cut back on numbers of fish stocked because of te low water levels. Now with the increased water levels we will ramp up stocking numbers again.
The past few years we have stocked approxiamately 200 Saratoga and we intend doing this for another couple of years, to try and establish a self sustaining population. We can only stock in small numbers because of the cost of these fish. An example of the costs envolved are barra are around 1 cent/mm which means a 50mm barra fingerling costs about 50 cents. A 50mm Yellowbelly would be around 25 cents and a 150mm Saratoga could cost $40 - $50 . This is because they are mouth brooders which means the eggs are carried and hatched in their mouths and can only produce 50 -100 fingerlings each time compared to a Yellowbelly that can produce 100,000.
Saratoga and Sleepy Cod can breed in impoundments where Barramundi and Yellowbelly don not. Barra need to go to sea to spawn and Yellowbelly need running water as in flooded rivers.
The fish that have been most successful in our dam have been the Yellowbelly and more recently the Barramundi. In the winter of 2007 we were dealt a blow from nature when after a string of very cold nights, combined with very low water levels a near 100% loss of barra occurred. This was a severe blow to the club and for the town as it was gaining notoriety for big fish over 1 meter and weighing up to 30kg. We are striving to restore to the levels pre 2007 and are seeing fish once again approaching and exceeding the 90cm mark so in the next few years are looking to be very promising.
After stcking, we carry out monitoring in conjunction with QDPI and Fisheries by means of netting surveys to try and ascertain the survival and growth rates of the stocked species, as well as to get a indication of species availability.
Approximately 5 years ago, the State Government introduced the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme (SIPS). This means to fish in dams that are covered by this scheme you must hold a permit. They very in cost from $36.05 for a year to $7.20 for a week which covers you and your partner. These funds are collected by QDPI and this is then distributed between all the stocking groups. The groups receives this money which enables them to purchase fingerlings to stock the dams ours being one of those dams listed in the scheme. This is a real boost for our small club, and relieves the pressure for fundraising to stock.
We have been holding fishing competitions every year since the 1990's to raise funds to assist stocking, as well as to promote tourism for our Valley. We have used funds to purchase and erect a new shed which will make it easier to hold the comps and provide a better facility for our patrons.
One of our aims is education and we try to educate people by warning them of the dangers of introducing non native species into our waterways. We are all aware of the cane toads, rabbits and foxes and the devastating effects they have had in Australia, this is the same for our waterways.
Another objective is to promote and foster fishing in the Biloela district as a recreational activity. A crucial part of this is to educate young anglers, by holding junior fishing clinics, usually 2 per year. At these clinics children are instructed in safety, basic knot tying, fish care, casting plus other facets of fishing. Thse clinics have proved to be very successful in encouraging young anglers, in pass years they have been held at Lake Callide and Dr. Tans Fish Farm.
Anybody inetrested in becoming a member of our association can do so by contacting any member or writing to the Secretary at PO Box 785 Biloela.
Artie Clapham.