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Golden Perch is an inland species found throughout most of the Murray-Darling Basin, the Lake Eyre and Bulloo drainage systems, and the Dawson-Fitzroy River systems of southern QLD. While available evidence indicates some population structuring at both the drainage system and finer scales, differences in data availability and management arrangements among states and territories mean that this assessment is presented at the jurisdictional level. Golden Perch is classified as undefined in QLD, depleted in NSW, recovering in VIC, and depleting in SA.

Photo: Department of Primary Industries, New South Wales

Golden Perch occur throughout most of the Murray–Darling system, as well as in the Lake Eyre and Bulloo drainage systems of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, and the Dawson-Fitzroy river system in southern Queensland [Lintermans 2007]. Translocated fish also occur in numerous other waterways and impoundments throughout south-eastern Australia [Allen et al. 2002]. 

Golden Perch in the Murray-Darling Basin are genetically distinct from Golden Perch in the Lake Eyre, Bulloo and Fitzroy systems [Faulks et al. 2010a,b; Beheregaray et al. 2017]. Murray-Darling Golden Perch form a well-connected metapopulation with low-level basin-wide population structure, reflecting their ability to migrate and disperse long distances [Faulks et al. 2010b; Beheregaray et al. 2017; Attard et al. 2018; Zampatti et al. 2018]. However, subtle genetic differences and regional differences in population structures driven by unique recruitment sources suggest sub-structuring across some regions. Examples include the Lower Lakes [Earl et al. 2015] and Paroo River [Attard et al. 2018], and potentially the physically disconnected and hydrologically impacted Victorian tributaries of the River Murray and some NSW tributaries of the Barwon-Darling (e.g., Lachlan River [Shams et al. 2020]). Sub-structuring is also evident in the Lake Eyre Basin [Faulks et al. 2010b]. Although genetic studies suggest the existence of several biological stocks, there are differences in management arrangements and available information in the various jurisdictions that access Golden Perch. 

To account for these differences, assessment of stock status is presented here at the jurisdictional level—Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

New South Wales

A commercial fishery for Golden Perch operated in New South Wales (NSW) from the 1880s to the early 2000s. Commercial fishery data spanning 1947 to 1996 show peak annual catches of 310 tonnes (t) in 1954–55, 293 t in 1975–76, and 173 t in 1993–94 [Reid et al. 1997]. In 1997, the first comprehensive fishery-independent survey of freshwater fish populations in NSW [NSW Rivers Survey; Harris and Gehrke 1997] found that native fish populations, including Golden Perch, were depleted due habitat degradation, fishing pressure, disease, and introduced species. Following a review of the inland commercial fishery in 1998, commercial fishing for native finfish ceased in September 2001.

Golden Perch currently constitutes a major component of the freshwater recreational fishery in NSW. They are also of high cultural significance for Aboriginal people [e.g., Martin et al. 2023], although the current level of Indigenous fishing for Golden Perch in NSW has not been quantified in sufficient detail for inclusion in this assessment. Recreational fishing for Golden Perch in NSW is open year-round, with a minimum legal length of 300 mm, a daily bag limit of five fish, and a possession limit of 10 fish per licence holder. The NSW Golden Perch fishery is augmented by the stocking of hatchery-produced juveniles. Stocked fish can make a substantial contribution to biomass, especially in impoundments and rivers fragmented by artificial barriers [Crook et al. 2015]. Impoundment fisheries for Golden Perch are generally considered as ‘put-and-take’ in NSW because natural recruitment is absent or very limited, and fishery viability is reliant on continued stocking [Forbes et al. 2015]. This assessment therefore focusses only on the riverine fishery.

Fishery-independent monitoring data have been collected for riverine sites across the MDB since 1994. These data are collected using a standardised electrofishing protocol to facilitate calculation of catch-per-unit-effort over time. Analyses of the data provide no evidence of a sustained recovery in stock biomass since closure of the commercial fishery in 2001 [Crook et al. 2023a,b]. Data on the recreational catch of Golden Perch in NSW have been collected periodically via household and licence holder surveys since 2000-01. Over this period, there has been a sharp decline in fishing effort and retained catch, and an increase in the rate of catch-and-release from 46% in 2013–14 to 81% in 2021–22 [West et al. 2015; Ochwada-Doyle et al. 2023; Crook et al. 2023b]. The most recent, comparable estimates of retained catch (numbers of fish) in the riverine fishery are 51,604 (±12,422 SE) in 2017–18, 38,521 (±15,565 SE) in 2019–20 and 14,994 (±4,699 SE) in 2021–22.

There is strong evidence that environmental forcing is an overriding driver of recruitment to the Golden Perch fishery. Episodic recruitment events occur in response to high flows and other aspects of river hydrology [Thiem et al. 2023], flow regulation and fragmentation has adverse effects on recruitment across the MDB [Koehn et al. 2014], and large-scale fish kills during hypoxic conditions have caused severe depletion in affected regions [Stocks et al. 2021]. In comparison to these broad-scale environmental disturbances, the effects of current levels of fishing mortality are considered minor. Recovery of the NSW Golden Perch stock is contingent on appropriate water and habitat management to ameliorate the threats posed by human disturbance to riverine ecosystems and climate change.

The above evidence indicates that the biomass of this stock is likely to be depleted and that recruitment is likely to be impaired. Furthermore, the above evidence indicates that current fishing mortality has been reduced by management to a level that should allow the stock to recover from its recruitment impaired state; however, measurable improvements are yet to be detected.

On the basis of the evidence provided above, Golden Perch in New South Wales is classified as a depleted stock.

[Roberts et al. 2008; Forbes et al. 2015; Mallen-Cooper and Stuart 2003]

Distribution of reported commercial catch of Golden Perch.

Queensland – Indigenous (management methods). For more information see https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/traditional-fishing 

Queensland – Recreational Fishing (Catch). Data are based at the whole of Queensland level and derived from statewide recreational fishing surveys. Where possible, estimates have been converted to weight (tonnes) using best known conversion multipliers. Conversion factors may display regional or temporal variability. In the absence of an adequate conversion factor, data presented as number of fish.

Victoria – Indigenous (Management Methods). A person who identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is exempt from the need to obtain a Victorian recreational fishing licence, provided they comply with all other rules that apply to recreational fishers, including rules on equipment, catch limits, size limits and restricted areas. Traditional (non-commercial) fishing activities that are carried out by members of a traditional owner group entity under an agreement pursuant to Victoria’s Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 are also exempt from the need to hold a recreational fishing licence, subject to any conditions outlined in the agreement. Native title holders are also exempt from the need to obtain a recreational fishing licence under the provisions of the Commonwealth’s Native Title Act 1993.

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