Southern Western Australia has no native freshwater fish species suitable for recreational angling. Some sectors of the recreational fishing community propose that inland water bodies in Western Australia should be stocked with freshwater fish native to eastern Australia. However, the WA Fisheries Department consider that these water bodies be stocked with fish species native to Western Australia. Since black bream can be readily cultured and tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, it is an ideal candidate for this role.

The future stocking of inland water bodies by black bream require data on the optimum environmental conditions for growth and survival of this species. The following questions need to be answered for black bream that have already been introduced into these waters, (1) what is their growth rate and survival, (2) what is their diet and (3) can they breed in these waters ? A monitoring programme should be established to determine the success of any trials. Laboratory experiments should be undertaken to elucidate how growth is influenced by salinity, a parameter that varies greatly in inland water bodies, and by temperature.

The agricultural community is keen to utilise those agricultural areas which have suffered from severe environmental degradation, particularly through salinisation. In some large areas the saline water table has risen to such an extent that those areas have been rendered useless for agriculture. Thus, the stocking of black bream for recreational fishing or tourist ventures would add value to otherwise worthless land and stimulate increased economic activity in these regions. Stocking of inland water bodies would also alleviate the severe fishing pressure on natural populations of black bream.

The Victorian Government is keen to utilise our results to exploit the salinised catchments of the Murray River and enhance the natural stocks of black bream that have been degraded by the activities of carp.