Murray Cod

Description: Murray Cod are normally a greenish-yellow with green marbled markings. Their ventral surface is creamy yellow-white. Their fins are darker, being a dark grey-green or black.

Conservation

Over-fishing always causes dips in the populations of fish. The Murray Cod is no exception. These populations declined around the turn of the 20th century. Staggering numbers of Murray Cod were caught. Both sport and commercial fishermen / fisheries were responsible.

Their populations continued to decline throughout the 1900's as well. Reasons for this include a handful of things. Humans always attempt to 'fix' the environment, but it is rarely successful. Submerged wood and logs were removed from rivers. These were primary spawning grounds for Murray Cod. Thermal pollution changes the temperatures of water systems, which the Murray Cod then avoids. We have also tried to regulate water flow, wiping out small floods. Floods are a necessity for certain fish to spawn. These items, along with continued over-fishing, have seen the Murray Cod population continue its downward spiral.

Murray Cod are a large fish, but they are rarely seen over 50 cm anymore. This is obviously due to the over-fishing, as larger species are caught, and kept, more readily. Many man-made fisheries are now stocked with Murray Cod to raise the population. Most importantly, anglers need to use selective harvesting and catch-and-release methods when fishing for Murray Cod. This is the only way the natural population will survive.