Breeding your own fingerlings

[daniel]

Why don’t I see much info around about breeding your own fingerlings? I think I heard that it was illegal to rear your own Barra in QLD, but apart from that what is the reason?

Is it just too hard?

[Murray]

Hi Daniel,
It is very difficult to breed Australian Native fish such as Murray Cod, Silver Perch and the like.
It is really a job for a hatchery. It can be done by the individual but the conditions to successfully breed your own require special skills that not many people have.
I have read some on it, and concluded it is easier to buy them.
If you need the name of a hatchery I can post it up for you.
Muzza

[daniel]

Thanks Murray,

Figured it wouldn’t be easy. Just thinking from a sustainability point of view. I figured a self contained system would be better.

I used to breed Yabbies as a kid. I know they are easy enough. And I have had aquariums my whole life and know that some fish breed, and others don’t.

I was hoping it would be as simple as creating a more natural (for the fish) setup/environment.

Thanks again

[Macca]

Would be great to be able to breed own fingerlings. I wonder whether now that a lot more people are starting to grow these fish that there might not be a breakthrough at some point that makes it easier for folk like us to give it a go.

[nick]

unfortunately it is not the break through you should be looking for. For the fish to breed specially barra, the perches and murray cod you are looking at significant ecologicla events that usually cause the fish to spawn, we are talking floods, temp changes, salt levels etc. The way the hatcheries do it is they use hormones and inject the fish to get them to spawn.

The fish that do best inthis kind of system are the tilapia, but these are illegal in queensland and some other states and for a queenslander to have tilapia is like going fo NSW in the origin and there are massive fines involved also.

[Murray]

There is a State Gov run School of Aquaculture at Grafton where one can go and do a 4 day short course in breeding Australian Natives. They run the short course two or three times a year. Costs several hundred dollars.
I would like to do the course one of these days....maybe... But for the home fish grower it a lot easier just to buy fingerlings from a hatchery, that's for sure.
Murray