(I know I talk about silly species a lot - bear with me
)Just had a chat with a fingerling supplier about getting some fingerlings in a few weeks and during the conversation he mentioned that he also spawns Estuary Perch but has no plans to this year.
That got my attention so I asked how many he'd need to have on order to bother with it.
After saying 5000 he did say that if half a dozen people wanted 100 each he'd be interested!
Their natural range is as far north as the Richmond river/Ballina in Nth NSW so maybe they'd struggle in summer much further north than that? I'm probably not thinking about it myself unless I was sure temps would be similar here. It is less than a couple hundred k's to the northern edge of their natural range but still a risk.
Probably as slow growing as bass and I think he mentioned spawning in winter.
Did some googling and apparently they took 2 to 3 years to hit 27cm in Lake Bolac (legal size for wild caught in VIC). Females grow faster and larger than males too.
Basically if anyone is up for it I'll let him know when I place my order around the end of this month.
600 fish and it looks like he'll be in, forgot to ask an expected price but probably around $200 or $300 per hundred fingerlings if prices are similar to his other species,
could be a hefty premium for all I know though... Freight ranges from $25 to $45 per box, depending where you are.So, are any other eccentrics interested?
(Had to check a map first to be sure, I'm pretty vague on things once you get south of the Bris river.)
