Developing Rocklands Reservoir as a native fishery

On 1 December2017, the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) announced plans to stock Rocklands Reservoir (Rocklands) with 215,000 Murray cod and 200,000 golden perch this summer. Estuary perch will also be stocked in Rocklands when available.

The development of Rocklands fishery aligns with the State Government's Target One Million plan to get more people fishing, more often. It's the newest and one of our most exciting native fishery projects to date.

Rockland's is one of Victoria's largest water storages with a surface area of 67 square kilometres. It has extensive stands of timber created when the forest was flooded in the 1950's. These conditions provide ideal fish habitat and will support a high quality recreational fishery for Murray cod, golden perch and estuary perch. Based on our experience in developing other native fisheries, annual fishing participation at Rocklands is expected to double over the next five years as stocked fish reach catchable size. This will make an important contribution to the regional economy as fishing related tourists spend money in the region buying fuel, tackle, food and staying in accommodation.

The decision to stock native fish in this waterway was based on a detailed (see link below) and independent fish stocking risk assessment conducted by environmental and fishery management consultants. The assessment found the stocking poses no significant risk to other endemic aquatic species.

A copy of the Translocation risk assessment for the stocking of Murray cod, Golden perch and estuary perch into Rocklands Reservoir can be downloaded here (PDF - 6.4 MB) .