Record numbers of Trout Cod fingerlings are being released into southern NSW waterways because of the Minns Labor Government's $1 million action plan to protect the threatened native species.
More than 174,100 Trout Cod fingerlings have been harvested from the aquaculture ponds at the NSW Government's Narrandera Fisheries Centre this season - almost triple the 50,000 produced in 2024 and well above the medium-term target of 100,000 by 2028.
The species, once widespread and abundant across the Murray Darling system, has undergone dramatic declines in its distribution and abundance over the past century.
Building Trout Cod populations is a key component of the Government's 10-year Trout Cod Action Plan, an election commitment delivered in February 2025, designed to fast track the recovery of Trout Cod.
The Action plan provides opportunity for fishers to participate in Trout Cod recovery activities, such as on ground habitat works, fish releases, broodstock collection, and fish downs of invasive species in release locations.
Trout Cod can only be fished for in Talbingo Dam, Snowy Mountains region, where it is a catch and release sportfishing opportunity. Anglers are encouraged to treat the fish with respect and adhere to regulations.
Staff at Narrandera Fisheries Centre have been trialling innovative ways to achieve better captive breeding results for Trout Cod (also known as Bluenose Cod).
This includes using nesting boxes inside the ponds to replicate natural river conditions and installing protective netting over the ponds to protect the fingerlings from bird predation.
Following this year's successful Trout Cod fingerling harvest, some:
- 62,100 have been released into the Goodradigbee River
- 82,000 into the Murrumbidgee River above Burrinjuck Dam
- 30,000 into Talbingo Dam, the only location they can be legally targeted by recreational anglers.
The team at the Narrandera Fisheries Centre are now well on their way to achieving the annual production target of 250,000 Trout Cod fingerlings by 2033.
As a result the Minns Government is working towards de-listing Trout Cod as a threatened species.
Recreational fishers who come across Trout Cod can support their recovery efforts by reporting the details on the Threatened Species website: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/threatened-species/report-a-threatened-species-form
For more information on the Trout Cod Action Plan and to learn about the recovery efforts, visit: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/threatened-species/what-current/endangered-species2/trout-cod/trout-cod-action-plan
Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty said:
"The Minns Government committed at the last election to delivering the 10-year Trout Cod Action Plan to recover the populations of the threatened Trout Cod in NSW.
This iconic fish was once plentiful in the southern waterways but declined due to poor oversight. Our Government is turning this endangered status around over the next 10 years with our plan and investment.
"It is great to see a large increase in the amount of Trout Cod being produced and released into the Murrumbidgee and Goodradigbee rivers as we nurture new self-sustaining populations.
"While recreational fishers are currently only able to target Trout Cod in Talbingo Dam, where a catch and release fishery has been developed, it is our goal to get populations of Trout Cod back to a point that they can once again become a target species for recreational fishers."
