IT was a great pleasure for me to launch the new fish hatchery in Lake Macdonald today, dedicated to the breeding of the endangered Mary River Cod.

The original hatchery had been in operation since 1982 and was developed to produce Mary River Cod fingerlings for rivers and impoundments. The first attempts to breed the Mary River Cod in captivity began in 1983 in response to the alarming decline in the numbers of this species in the wild.

In 2005, Noosa Council recognised the need for significant renovations to be undertaken on the premises if it was going to continue to be fit for use. The violent storm that passed through the area in December 2006 also caused some damage to the existing facilities and resulted in losses of brood stock.

The operation of the new hatchery is managed by the Noosa and District Community Hatchery Association. The Sunshine Coast Council and the Queensland Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries provide annual operational funding for the hatchery, and a hatchery steering group oversees the strategic management of the facility.

The redevelopment of the facility at its existing location was agreed by the former Noosa Council in 2007, where QWIPL and Council have jointly funded it: QWIPL contributed $64,000 towards the works and Council has contributed the of $61,000. A major injection of $60,000 in funding from Queensland Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries in 2007-08 was also provided following the 2006 storm damage that caused further losses in brood stock.

In this year of rebuilding, there have been five successful breedings from the new brood stock collected in 2008 and the hatchery is on track to produced 35,000 plus fingerlings by the end of the year. The group hope to be back to record levels of fingerling production of around 75,000 next year.

More to come?
In light of the potential impacts on Mary River Cod from the construction of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam, Queensland Water Infrastructure Pty Ltd (QWIPL) entered into an MOU with the former Noosa Council in 2007 to provide significant funding towards a major new hatchery complex at the Lake Macdonald Botanical Gardens, that would also involve a visitor information facility. This funding for additional works is of course subject to the dam proceeding.