The Coalition Government has stocked 1 million more Eastern King prawns into Lake Tyers to improve recreational fishing opportunities, Member for Gippsland East Tim Bull announced today.

Mr Bull said this brought the total number of prawns stocked into Lake Tyers since February to 1.3 million.

“Anglers at Lake Tyers can expect Eastern King prawns as part of their catch for Christmas and Easter this season,” Mr Bull said.

“These additional 1 million prawn larvae will significantly boost the Lake Tyers prawn population and provide significant catch opportunities for recreational fishers in 2014.

“Following a smaller stocking of prawns in February, this stocking is the largest of its kind in Victoria and will provide a useful benchmark for other estuarine stocking projects.

 “It has been funded from the sale of recreational fishing licenses, which demonstrates how the Coalition Government is putting fishers’ fees straight back into improving fishing opportunities across the state.”

The previous stocking of prawns in February is expected to reach a catchable size by Christmas and the prawns been regularly monitored by the University of New South Wales

“The University has found that because the prawn larvae were released in the upper reaches of Lake Tyers in February, they should have escaped the flooding events of June,” Mr Bull said.

“It is estimated that less than 20 per cent of the prawns left the estuary when the entrance opened because most would have been sheltered in seagrass and sediment to protect themselves from high flows.”

Prawn stocking in estuaries along the south-eastern Australian coast, particularly in New South Wales, has been successful in recent times and yielded good results for anglers.

The stocked prawns can be distinguished from wild prawns through genetic sampling methods.

For more information about the project visit www.depi.vic.gov.au/prawnstocking