Anyone looking to re-stock farm ponds when water levels rise could find Silver Perch the fish best suited for their needs.
Silver Perch eat a broader range of food and grow quicker then other fish in farm dams.
Another benefit is that Silver Perch do not eat each other and have a better survival rate compared to Bass and Yellow Belly.
Alan and Deborah Hambly saw these benefits 23 years ago when they began Pipers Creek Hatchery near Kundabung, 13km south of Kempsey in NSW.
"I got into fish farming after going to a few DPI Fishery Silver Perch field days," Alan said.
"I first started with a tank in my backyard and the following year I bought a farm and an old backhoe.
"While doing an aquaculture course, I started digging ponds after getting all the approvals.
"I submitted a 10 year plan, expanding the number of dams every two years.
"Around six years in, I started to set out the western side of my farm for ponds but realised I didn't have enough fall to build full size grow-out ponds.
"But I did have enough fall to build fingerling dams.
"Twenty-three years on and I still find breeding fish challenging."
Alan and Deborah believe that habitat plays a crucial role in fish development and survival.
"Dams which are silted up or over grown with water plants covering most of the surface area will not be much good for stocking fish," Alan said.
"The dam needs to be cleaned before stocking.
"Small dams less than 20 metres square are too small to grow native fish.
"Some people I know are growing fish in small dams.
"But they need to feed them and in some cases aerating the water is needed.
"Native fish are quiet happy in a meter of water, but the larger the dam, the better for producing natural food for them.
"Dams which are exposed to more wind will be in most cases more productive.
"The wind creates a current exposing more of the water volume to air.
"The more oxygen in the water, the more productive and healthy the dam will be.
"Size is important as larger dams will grow larger fish than small dams."
