BlackFish and Aquaponics

[DragonFly]

Hi All... I have a querry regarding Blackfish, I'm currently in the process of moving to the Alpine region of Gippsland Victoria to set up a permaculture/ off the grid life for myself and my family part of which will include Aquaponics.
Quite often temperatures can reach freezing which exclude many of the low land subtropical natives, I've read up on many of the post regarding Trout, but I was hoping to use natives, Many of the rivers and creeks in the area contain Blckfish which seem to live quite happily in colder climes and they can grow to a considerable size, besides they are quite tasty as well which is all important :) I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with this Fish? whether its unsuitable for farming, I've been unable to find any information besides general fishing guides regarding this species, nor even a commercial fishery that breeds or sells fingerlings.
Cheers
Jon

[GaryD]

Hi Jon,

I can't help you with the Blackfish query but I can tell you that, if I lived in your neck of the woods, I would definitely grow trout.

There is an enormous amount of information around on them and, provided you meet their water quality requirements, they are almost bullet-proof.

While not native, they grow quickly enough that you could treat them as a seasonal thing as against most natives which would be a year (or years) long project......particularly in the case of those that you could keep.

Gary

[DragonFly]

Thanks Gary,
I'll probably start off using trout for the time being, I've raised them before in a smaller tank. I'm looking to install a 5000lt system, I have a fairly small space, hence the need to make it as productive as possible. I have access to blackfish in the area, might play around a bit let you know how it goes, thanks for reply
Cheers
Jon

[mikenicol]

no commercial fishery as they are probably considered unsuitable for aquaculture due to their territoriality. They may lose this though, like murray cod, at higher stocking densities

DPI NSW have just announced a captive breeding program for snowy river population of blackfish, so fingerlings may be available from them though unlikely i guess as they are breeding them for environmental reasons

i remember reading a report/paper about bf being bred in ponds, so it has been done already. pretty sure they raised the juveniles successfully, may have even been in farm dams. They breed in hollow logs... If u want me to look for that report, email me on mydekel@gmail.com

cheers

[DragonFly]

Thanks for the info Mike, I'm moving to the Thompson river area, there's a fairly healthy wild population so worst case senario I'd probably try capturing few. Though I'd be really interested in how their breeding program works, whether its similar to trout milking etc... I'm pretty certain that any aggressive tendancies would show up mainly in wild populations similar to trout due to survival pressures, they might live fairly well together if theres an abundance of food available, anyway thanks for your help
Cheers
Jon

[ColinW]

Found this link on Victorian Department of Primary Industries site - may be of some help - regards - ColinW
http://www.land.vic.gov.au/DPI/nreninf.nsf/childdocs/-B1F754E6F182011F4A2568B30006520E-49A3E2BB3EDF7F50CA256BC80006E464-2B067B6CC15F68524A256DEA0029020F-494B9AA8973C119DCA256BEC0029F976?open