The Director of Inland Fisheries, John Diggle, today attended the Trout Weekend at Liawenee, Great Lake, along with anglers and their families, to celebrate the wild Tassie brown trout, the icon of Tasmania’s world-class trout fishery.

“The Inland Fisheries Service Trout Weekend, which is held at Liawenee in May each year, is a very popular social occasion for both anglers and their beloved fish,” Mr Diggle said.

“It’s based on the annual spawning migration of the famous wild Tasmanian brown trout, which was introduced to the state over 140 years ago,” he said.

“Hundreds of adult fish swim upstream in the Liawenee Canal from Great Lake at this time of the year to lay their eggs.

“These magnificent fish are offspring of the original trout shipped as eggs from England in 1864,” said Mr Diggle.

“Service staff trap the fish and harvest the eggs over the weekend. The eggs are taken to the Service’s hatchery at New Norfolk and the Salmon Ponds and grown into young fish.

“During the following season, when the fish have matured to ‘fingerling’ or ‘handling’ stage and have a good chance of survival, they are released into selected waters throughout the state.

“This harvesting and restocking of wild brown trout has been carried out in Tasmania for many years and the angling community has always been closely involved.

“The Weekend has become a family tradition in the highlands and amongst anglers, and over recent years there’s been significant public and tourist interest in the event.

“The good turn-out of people today marks another successful year for the Service and shows just how much Tasmanians love their trout fishing,” said Mr Diggle.

Mr Diggle went on to thank the angling clubs, the local highland community and the fishing tackle businesses for their ongoing support to the Service and this weekend’s event.

Source: Tasmanian Inland Fisheries (Tas.gov.au Media Site)