Silver Perch are one of the most common freshwater aquaculture species in NSW. The silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus) is an Australia native freshwater fish. Its natural distribution extends through the western drainage of New South Wales, including most of the Murray-Darling Basin, but it is found now in many eastern drainages.

Silver Perch are a fast growing species that are known to grow up to 6kg but in NSW the aquaculture industry basically grows 3 sizes for human consumption. We have smalls at 350-450 gram, mediums at 600-800 gram and large animals 800-1200gram. They are fast growing and most people work on 2 years to sale size. They are a school fish that likes high densities so are suitable for both earthen ponds and tank recirculation systems. Most of the major production in NSW is from earthen ponds that are specifically designed for perch culture. You can grow silver perch in farm dams for your own consumption but commercially you are only allowed to culture them in specially designed pond or tanks, etc.

The commercial industry in NSW is generally divided into two industries. The hatchery industry and the grow out industry, some of the larger farms do both but the hatchery side is a specialised business and for most it is easier just to purchase fingerlings from an approved hatchery and then grow those fingerlings out.

NSW Fisheries began researching Silver Perch back in 1965 and over the years with the help of the Departments researchers and scientists the knowledge base on silvers has grown tremendously. In the 1970′s the Narranderra Fisheries Research Station began research on the hormone induced spawning of perch, and this technology was made available to industry in the early 1980′s. Since that time, a thriving hatchery industry has existed based on the hatchery production of silver perch and other native species. Silver Perch spawn in tanks in hatcheries by being induced with an injection of HCG a human gonadotrophin.

Tank Breeding Facts:

Water temp 24 – 25 Deg.  28 Max. Must aerate tanks, No dead spots. SPAWNING: 200 IU / Kg HCG. 32 –38 hours after inject spawn. 24 – 28 hours hatch. No Noise. No light. 125,000 eggs / Kg. Out day 4 to 7. Feeding starts day 6. Divide by 75 for both. Males can have 0. Reduce dosage towards end of season. Season = 1st September to mid February.

Perch are bred in hatchery tanks producing large numbers of eggs that will hatch 24-28 hours after being laid. These small larve start to feed around day 6 and they are usually transferred to outside earthen ponds that have been prepared with an algae and zooplankton bloom and grown in these ponds to a fingerling size. They are weaned onto a commercial pellet in the ponds and then harvested and sold. Silver perch fingerlings are purchased by a mass of people for all sorts of reasons. Growing them in farm dams for personal consumption is common, growing them in home aquariums or aquaponic tanks is becoming more popular and of corse there is the commercial aquaculture industry in NSW that grows some 200,000 kgs each year.

Silver perch can grow at high densities in commercial ponds and research indicates that 20,000kgs per hectare of pond is possible but most farmers grow at much lower densities of 5-7,000kgs/ha. The silver perch industry in NSW is worth about $2.6 million and promises to grow in the future.

Sliver Perch Fingerlings are available from;