MEMBERS of parliament were at Devilbend Reservoir for this year’s first input of fish stock with the release of catchable size brown trout.
Outdoor Recreation Minister Sonya Kilkenny and MP for Eastern Victoria Tom McIntosh watched the release of 500-gram trout which, unless caught, could weigh one kilogram or more within a year.
The reservoir near Moorooduc had been stocked with nearly 250,000 brown and rainbow trout since 2010, some of which now weigh two kilograms or more.
The MPs said stocking Devilbend with fish was “another tourism drawcard” on the Mornington Peninsula.
Devilbend is also one of the few Victorian waterways stocked with estuary perch and has received more than 120,000 over the past eight years.
In 2022, Devilbend was one of 220 of the state’s waterways to share in the release of 10 million fish – trout, salmon, Murray cod, golden perch, estuary perch and Australian bass.
The trout released at Devilbend last Wednesday (1 March) were grown at the Victorian Fisheries Authority’s (VFA) Snobs Creek hatchery near Eildon.
Each year the hatchery grows more 1,000,000 trout and salmon as part of its state-wide stocking program, along with Murray cod and threatened species such as Macquarie perch and trout cod.
“Fish stocking is important to boost our fisheries – which is why we’re stocking in record numbers and investing in hatcheries to further increase numbers,” Kilkenny said.
McIntosh described Devilbend as a “freshwater fishing jewel … for experienced die-hard anglers and newcomers to the pastime too”.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 7 March 2023
