Fish Ponds Would Serve Dual Purpose

Since 1993 the Mount Isa fish-stocking Group have run a breeding program for our local sooty grunter. We catch adult broodstock in Lake Julius then transport them back to Mount Isa for spawning and hatching. That is the fun part; the arduous stressful stage is trying to grow them out into fingerlings. As they grow they need a lot of food. Trying to grow them out in tanks we struggle to keep the feed up to them. In the confined space, disease becomes a problem and the strong also begin to cannibalize the weak.

What we need are ponds. With ponds we cut out the labour intensive growout stage. In ponds we can let nature do the work. Zooplankton, water fleas and plants start growing immediately once a pond is flooded. We stock the pond with fish larvae and then after several weeks we harvest. Fingerlings are produced in the hundred thousands rather than the few thousand that we are at present limited too.

What a new hatchery with growout ponds will mean to Mount Isa is that we can cheaply and efficiently stock all the lakes in the district. At present because we are extremely limited in what we can produce locally we must purchase fingerlings from hatcheries far away. Surely it makes sense to keep the money we raise in the town and produce our own fingerlings locally. With ponds we can begin to growout our own barramundi. We can produce bulk numbers of sooty grunter, sleepy cod and red claw crayfish all year round.

The Mount Isa Water Board have given ‘in principal support’ to our proposal to build a new hatchery and growout complex. We have identified a site near the clear water lagoon with frontage on Lake Moondarra road. In the future the site could feature the hatchery complex and its quarter acre ponds all set in Gulf riverine foliage such as leichhardt trees and Livistonia palms. Beside the lake edge we can build an interpretive centre and kiosk, a place where people can relax, look at aquariums showing off our native fish species and begin the site tour.

Many other community groups and organizations have expressed interest in the idea of a hatchery at Lake Moondarra. The high school and TAFE College need the facility for environmental science and aquaculture course delivery. The local tourism bodies applaud the effort as potentially creating more jobs and another major visitor draw card. Friends of the proposed arid land botanical garden see the proposed site as an excellent opportunity to develop a multipurpose environmental centre.

Imagine in the future the facility also acting as a hub for bush walks around the lake edge. Creating opportunities for visitors to admire the scenery, our native plants and observe the abundant bird life. Bush tracks can also explore the arid land flora and our unique geology. With volunteer labour and by targeting government grants, the arid lands botanical garden could be developed on adjacent land over time.

There are many reasons why we need a local fish hatchery and arid land interpretive centre. For the fish-stocking group it is the only way we can efficiently stock the lakes in the region. The stocked impoundment fishing permit simply won’t raise enough funds for local fishstocking. The money we raise with the boat raffle and annual fishing competition also isn’t enough for an on going stocking program. Lets keep our money in the town and develop our own community. See you at the fishing competition.

By Mark Van Ryt
Secretary MIFSG
Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group Inc