Dispatch Method:

The eating qualities of golden perch can be greatly improved if they are killed humanely by iki jime, or a firm knock to the head before being placed in an ice slurry after bleeding.

Fish Description:

• Adult fish are brown to greenish above and yellow below. They have a concave forehead, a protruding lower jaw and a truncate caudal fin. Juveniles are more silvery coloured with grey mottling on the sides.
  
• Golden perch mature at between 2-4 years old (0.5-1.5 kg). The maximum recorded age is 26 years.
  
• Golden perch are well adapted to the unpredictable environment of the Murray-Darling system. Adult fish can survive over 200 days without feeding, by using up their abundant fat reserves.

Fish Distribution:

• The species is restricted to freshwaters of the Murray-Darling system in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
  
• Golden perch fingerlings have also been stocked into some eastern draining rivers as well as a large number of impoundments and farm dams.
  
• Golden perch are found in a range of habitat types, most commonly in slow-moving turbid stretches of streams, lakes and backwaters.

Fish Size Common Length:

30-50 cm, maximum size around 76 cm and 23 kg.