dusky flathead stocking nsw
Photo: NSW DPI

Flathead stocking trial a first for NSW

dusky flathead stocking nsw
Photo: NSW DPI

THE Port Stephens Fisheries Institute has now successfully reared juvenile dusky flathead and in early December, NSW Department of Primary Industries released 1200 flathead measuring about 15cm in the southern areas of Lake Macquarie in the greater Newcastle area.

DPI has been working on breeding technology for duskies over the past year to hopefully enable large-scale dusky flathead stocking in key estuaries along the NSW coast.

The stocked fish will be monitored to see how quickly they adapt to the natural environment and how fast they grow. A visible fluorescent tag on the underside of their jaws will allow us to identify these as fish from the Lake Macquarie flathead stocking program.

The fish will gradually move away from the release locations across the entire lake, so keep an eye out for a small red or green tag on any flatties you catch in Lake Macquarie over coming months and years. To report the recapture of a tagged fish, email fisheries.enhancement@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Prawn stocking

In late October, DPI also stocked 500,000 juvenile eastern king prawns into Narrabeen Lagoon, which will hopefully result in great prawning opportunities over coming months. This is your recreational fishing licence money at work!

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One comment

  1. Why do we need more dusky flathead in Lake Macquarie, isn’t there already good stocks there

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