Fitzy
08-05-2002, 07:21 PM
Below is a copy of a Qld Fisheries Services Press Release.[hr]3 May 2002
Clermont group aims for barra fishery
AN enthusiastic band of 35 Clermont district recreational anglers have reformed the Clermont Fish Stocking Group with a 2002-03 summer season objective to introduce 25,000 barramundi fingerlings into the Theresa Creek Dam.
Department of Primary Industries senior Queensland Fisheries service extension officer, Peter Long, Rockhampton, joined the group members to undertake a fish stock netting survey at the dam last Wednesday (May 1).
Mr Long said Theresa Creek Dam, Clermont’s domestic and industrial water storage facility that covered 250 hectares when full, was currently at 37 percent capacity following a 3pc downstream replenishment release on April 30.
Clermont Fish Stocking Group was originally founded in 1987 and Theresa Creek Dam was subsequently stocked to establish an excellent population of yellowbelly and silver perch before interest in the project waned.
Following a public meeting in February this year, the group was re-established backed by strong local community support and funding commitments from coal mining companies, Belyando Shire Council and the State Government’s fish stocking enhancement program.
A four-hour survey supervised by Mr Long set nine nets from a flotilla of four boats to record a native species catch of 47 eel tail catfish (jew) and six spangled perch.
“A welcome surprise was the netting of two yellowbelly which, based on past stocking records, have to be aged between a minimum of 11 years and up to 15 years. They were 470mm and 500mm weighing 3kg and 3.3kg respectively,” Mr Long said.
Mr Long said yellowbelly cannot breed in impounded waters. Finding these healthy Fitzroy Basin strain yellowbelly was both a surprise and an interesting observation as little was known about the species’ longevity in the warmer tropics.
Under the group’s five-year management plan, the members would lodge a permit application to stock the Crown water dam with Fitzroy River strain barramundi. Other fish species currently under consideration for future stocking were sleepy cod and yellowbelly.
Mr Long said bony bream, a common species throughout the Fitzroy system, were not present in the dam. They were an ideal food source for barramundi. A gill net set for 30 minutes in a waterhole downstream of the dam wall caught 50 bony bream. An application to stock bony bream would be lodged.
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Further information: Peter Long, senior Fisheries extension officer, Rockhampton Ph 07 4936 0253 Mob 0428 799 574
Media Officer: Russ Boadle, Rockhampton Ph (07) 4936 0320; Mobile 0418 789939
Department of Primary Industries Media Unit
Central Region Office, Box 6014, Rockhampton Mail Centre, Q 4702 Fax (07) 4936 0317
DPI Call Centre 8am-6pm weekdays on local call 13 25 23
Clermont group aims for barra fishery
AN enthusiastic band of 35 Clermont district recreational anglers have reformed the Clermont Fish Stocking Group with a 2002-03 summer season objective to introduce 25,000 barramundi fingerlings into the Theresa Creek Dam.
Department of Primary Industries senior Queensland Fisheries service extension officer, Peter Long, Rockhampton, joined the group members to undertake a fish stock netting survey at the dam last Wednesday (May 1).
Mr Long said Theresa Creek Dam, Clermont’s domestic and industrial water storage facility that covered 250 hectares when full, was currently at 37 percent capacity following a 3pc downstream replenishment release on April 30.
Clermont Fish Stocking Group was originally founded in 1987 and Theresa Creek Dam was subsequently stocked to establish an excellent population of yellowbelly and silver perch before interest in the project waned.
Following a public meeting in February this year, the group was re-established backed by strong local community support and funding commitments from coal mining companies, Belyando Shire Council and the State Government’s fish stocking enhancement program.
A four-hour survey supervised by Mr Long set nine nets from a flotilla of four boats to record a native species catch of 47 eel tail catfish (jew) and six spangled perch.
“A welcome surprise was the netting of two yellowbelly which, based on past stocking records, have to be aged between a minimum of 11 years and up to 15 years. They were 470mm and 500mm weighing 3kg and 3.3kg respectively,” Mr Long said.
Mr Long said yellowbelly cannot breed in impounded waters. Finding these healthy Fitzroy Basin strain yellowbelly was both a surprise and an interesting observation as little was known about the species’ longevity in the warmer tropics.
Under the group’s five-year management plan, the members would lodge a permit application to stock the Crown water dam with Fitzroy River strain barramundi. Other fish species currently under consideration for future stocking were sleepy cod and yellowbelly.
Mr Long said bony bream, a common species throughout the Fitzroy system, were not present in the dam. They were an ideal food source for barramundi. A gill net set for 30 minutes in a waterhole downstream of the dam wall caught 50 bony bream. An application to stock bony bream would be lodged.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further information: Peter Long, senior Fisheries extension officer, Rockhampton Ph 07 4936 0253 Mob 0428 799 574
Media Officer: Russ Boadle, Rockhampton Ph (07) 4936 0320; Mobile 0418 789939
Department of Primary Industries Media Unit
Central Region Office, Box 6014, Rockhampton Mail Centre, Q 4702 Fax (07) 4936 0317
DPI Call Centre 8am-6pm weekdays on local call 13 25 23