Rainbow and brown trout are highly sought after by skilled anglers in the fresh waters of Australia’s South West – but this wasn’t always the case.
Trout belong to the Salmonidae Family, which is renowned for providing good sport fishing, and just a few hundred eggs were shipped from the northern hemisphere to Tasmania more than a century ago.
These eggs hatched and were carefully raised and released in waterways throughout the southern half of Australia so the ‘thrill of a catch’ could be felt in new places.
Pemberton is an important part of the creation of the trout fishery as it hosts the Pemberton Freshwater Research Centre (PFRC), the largest freshwater hatchery and research facility in Western Australia.
The PFRC has produced fry, fingerlings, yearling and ex-broodstock for recreational fishing, aquaculture and research since the 1950s. It has also bred a line of heat-tolerant trout sought after around the world.