Free open day at Snobs Creek Fish Hatchery

Snobs Creek Hatchery © Marc Ainsworth

The Victorian Fisheries Authority will host a free open day on Sunday 25 June at its Snobs Creek fish hatchery near Eildon, opening its doors and welcoming visitors on the first weekend of the school holidays.

The open day will provide die-hard recreational fishers, tourists and locals with the perfect opportunity to see how millions of fish are grown every year and stocked into waterways to improve freshwater fisheries.

Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) CEO Travis Dowling said fish stocking is funded by recreational fishing licence fees and the State Government's $96 million investment to improve fishing, boating, piers and aquaculture.

"Snobs Creek has a long history of producing brown trout, rainbow trout, Chinook salmon and Murray cod and has expanded to include threatened species too, such as trout cod and Macquarie perch to aid their recovery in the wild," Mr Dowling said.

The open day and hatchery tours will provide a rare, behind-the-scenes look into daily operations - where visitors can connect and learn directly from Snobs staff.

In 2022, almost 10 million fish were stocked into lakes and rivers across Victoria.

This record stocking was made possible by the work of VFA's two hatcheries at Snobs Creek and Arcadia with support from privately run hatcheries too.

Open day visitors hear from experts from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action on the work being done to protect threatened native fish. These speakers will share how research, habitat improvement and translocations are making a positive difference.

"Come along between 10am and 2pm to hear first-hand how fish are bred, fed, sorted then loaded into specialised stocking trucks that deliver them to lakes and rivers as part of our stocking program, which releases more fish than any other state in the country," said CEO Travis Dowling.

"Catch a short movie about the hatchery in the temporary cinema with free popcorn, try virtual reality fishing, or get the kids into fishy educational activities and a free showbag. Better still, families are encouraged to make a weekend of it by combining a visit to the hatchery with casting a line into Lake Eildon or the pondage."

There's no need to register, just turn up on the day. For more information visit www.vfa.vic.gov.au/snobsopenday.