Hatchery tours at the Snobs Creek open day in 2024.
The iconic Snobs Creek Fish Hatchery near Eildon will throw open its doors to fishers of all ages at its annual open day.
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It will be held on Sunday, May 4 from 9am to 3pm.
Victorian Fisheries Authority chief executive officer Travis Dowling said the free event would draw a big crowd of keen anglers going behind the scenes to learn how fish are grown at the facility, which first opened in 1948.
“Our Snobs Creek hatchery is a truly impressive facility with a rich history,” Mr Dowling said.
“The open day has something for everyone, whether you’ve been fishing for years or you’re a parent trying to get the next generation hooked.
“We encourage families to make a weekend of it by combining a visit to Snobs Creek with casting a line into Lake Eildon, the nearby pondage or the Goulburn River to make some magic memories together.”
A wide variety of species are grown at Snobs Creek, from the iconic Murray cod to threatened trout cod and Macquarie perch, brown and rainbow trout, and the facility boasts the only captive breeding population of Chinook salmon in Australia.
Work on a new Macquarie Perch Recovery Centre will begin soon as part of a $15 million investment from the Victorian Government into facilities at Snobs Creek and Arcadia (near Shepparton), enabling hatchery staff to produce more ‘maccas’ and trout cod.
Visitors can embark on self-guided tours, asking questions of expert hatchery staff along the way about all aspects of fish production — from counting eggs to monitoring tiny larvae and learning what fingerlings are fed before being released into Victorian waters as part of the record-breaking fish stocking program.
Family fun at the 2024 Snobs Creek open day.
Work to recover threatened species will be highlighted at the Snobs Creek Conservation Hatchery, which is establishing populations of at least 10 threatened species in 10 years.
Victorian Fisheries Authority staff and the team from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action’s Arthur Rylah Institute will be on hand inside the state-of-the-art facility which opened in early 2024.
Leaders from the Women in Recreational Fishing and Boating Network will share fishing tips as well as how they are fostering inclusion to get more women involved in the pastime.
A sensory activity for kids from Festive Tribe includes the RiverScape Eco Play Space, with the aim to inspire observation and an empowered sense of care of the natural world.
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