Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua)

Description
Golden perch are commonly caught at about 5kg, but can grow up to 9kg (76cm). Golden perch are sexually mature at 4-5 years of age (41-42cm in length) and can live for as long as 19 years. Their colouration is variable ranging from dull black to brilliant gold. Generally they have a dark brown to olive green back, shading to yellow or white towards the belly. Larger adult fish have a very distinctive form. They have a high-humped back and stumpy, barely functional tails. Their gill covers have razor-sharp serrated cutting edges. Golden perch feed on shrimps, crayfish, small mussels and occasionally fish.

Habitat/Distribution
Golden perch are found only in freshwater. They occur in clear, fast-flowing rivers or streams, as well as slow-flowing, turbid rivers and backwaters. Golden perch prefer warm, turbid slow-flowing streams. They range throughout the Murray-Darling river system in central and southern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. They can also be found in rivers draining into Lake Eyre. Golden perch undergo long migrations upstream in late spring to early summer. Queensland has three genetically distinct stocks of golden perch. One is native to the Lake Eyre drainage system (Macquiria sp.), another to the Murray-Darling system (Macquaria ambigua) and the last to the Dawson system (Macquaria ambigua oriens). Stock from the Murray-Darling system has been introduced to dams in south-east Queensland.

Aquaculture Potential
With a decline in wild caught stock going to the market floor, farm raised Golden Perch are receiving better prices. Achieving wild caught colouring with a white belly is of upmost importance to sales. As an aquaculture species, they are incredibly time consuming to wean onto artificial feeds. Again being a carnivorous species, large numbers of stock may be sacrificed if regular grading isn’t undertaken. Experience has also shown that these fish do not cope well with stress from grading and harvesting and better techniques may be required in this area.

Condabilla Fish farm has sold only minimal quantities of Golden Perch to date. The farm is currently stocking only 15000 fingerlings and is developing grow out methods for the species in our system.

< Back