Moulamenin Lake is to be transferred into a nursery with 10,000 new inhabitants helping furnish the food chain in the region.But fisherman need not get too excited, as not one of them will pass the legal minimum catch length.
NSW Fisheries intends to offload small-bodied fish consisting mainly of Olive Perchlet (8cm), plus Carp Gudgeon (4.5cm), Rainbow Fish (9cm) and Australian Smelt (10cm).
The long-term plan will include restocking about every five years as NSW Fisheries plans to populate other suitable areas, as well as back into the river system.
Martin Asmus from the NSW Department of Primary Industries said Moulamein Lake was the perfect environment to breed the new fish, with ample amounts of water weed an ideal habitat for them.
A big thanks must go to Professor John for driving this.
The DPI intends to have more nurseries like Moulamein Lake, with some Purple-Spotted Gudgeon’s already dropped into the Barham Lakes for the same reason.
These are a very impressive looking little fish which grow to about 12cm.
A bit hard to get a fillet off any of these small-bodied fish. But they are a very important part of our river system.
Footy-netball at home this weekend
We play top-of-the-table Hay at home this week. They seem to be the powerhouse of our league at the moment. Come over and cheer the Mighty Swans on and then stay on to pick up a bargain at our commodity auction.
Commodity auction
This is the big fundraiser for our Mighty Swans Footy-Netball Club. Thank you to all those that have donated for Saturday night. Now we need everyone to come along and bid up big. There will be a bus running, so getting home will not be a problem.
Rice harvest
Finally, the last load has been delivered to our Moulamein rice sheds.
It’s a bit hard to get information about how many tonnes were delivered. But I think we almost filled our Moulamein sheds.
That’s just below 60,000 tones. Let’s say 50,000 tonnes of dry rice that we get paid on.
Let’s hope we can get $400/tonne for it. That is $20 million pumped into our Moulamein district, plus the stuff that had to be carted to Deniliquin.
One thing farmers cannot do with money is hang onto it. The income from our rice will go down the line to keep our district going.
Thank you to all of our seasonal workers who turned up this year.
Rain forecast
By the time you read this in the paper. We will know. At the time of writing. We should get 10 to 20mm, according to the forecast. Our dry grazing country needs it, so another drink would not go astray. Bring it on Huey.
Moulamein And Wakool sheep nights
Just a last reminder about the Central Murray Bestwool Bestlamb presentation of maximising maternal performance at Moulamein on Monday, June 3 and at Wakool on Tuesday, June 4.
Subjects covered will include: Ewe nutrition for optimal performance; lambing paddock selection and management; ewe replacement selection strategies; getting the most from your rams; the role of teasing; buying rams to drive up reproduction and much more, I imagine.
Dr Mark Ferguson from neXtgen Agri will present the evenings. These will be free nights with a meal provided. Both start at 6.30pm and should finish about 9pm.
For more information, ring Rick on 0428372357 or Tahlia on 0354531577 or go to rick.ellis@wmlig.org.au or tahlia.stewart@wmlig.org. Bookings are essential.
Chicks in the sticks event
Just a reminder about this great event, which will be run by our Billabong Creek committee, Y.A.C.T.A.C. (Yanco Creek and Tributaries Advisory Council).
They invite you to join them on Thursday, July 4 for an empowering day of inspiration and connection.
Featuring engaging facilitator Cynthia Mahoney, women of all ages and backgrounds are invited.
The day will start with a casual gathering at the Moulamein Heritage Centre at 12pm before moving over to our Moulamein Bowling Club at 1pm with the presentation kicking off at 1.30 until around 4.30pm.
Cost is $25 each and you will be able to enjoy a High Tea during intermission. For more information email project.yactac@gmail.com
River levels
The Edward River got that rise I was talking about but in town is now at around 1.9m and just over 1800 megalitres a day.
The Edward will continue to drop, as it is only 1000 megalitres below Stevens Wier and falling.
There is about 300 megalitres coming down the Billabong. There are still a few cod getting caught above Moulamein, but there has not been much local fishing going on.
If you have ever wanted to catch a cod. Take the trip to Maude and try the Murrumbidgee. Below the weir is the best.
