Roach

Dispatch Method:

To maximise their eating qualities roach should be killed humanely by iki jime, or a firm knock to the head before being placed in an ice slurry after bleeding.

Fish Description:

• Roach are a carp-like freshwater fish with an olive green colouration, grading to silver on the sides and silvery white on the belly. Their eyes are bright yellow in juveniles to orange or reddish in adults. The pectoral, pelvic and anal fins are orange to red.
  
• Roach are omnivorous, with juveniles feeding on plankton, while adults are mostly bottom feeders eating mainly aquatic invertebrates (annelids, molluscs, crustaceans) and plants. They will also take terrestrial insects from the water surface.
  
• Sexes are separate, with male fish maturing at 1-2 years and females at 2-3 years old at 10-15 cm long. The breeding season is from spring to early summer, with the female spawning sticky demersal eggs that are attached to aquatic vegetation or onto tree roots, gravel or stones on the bottom. This species can live to around 18 years of age.

Fish Distribution:

• Roach are native to northern Europe and western Asia, but have been introduced into Spain, Italy, northern Africa and Australia.
  
• In Australia this species was introduced into Tasmania in the late 1800's, and then to Victoria, New South Wales, and Western Australia. They are established in the Murray-Darling system and many other water bodies and rivers in south eastern Australia, but appear to be no longer present in Western Australia.
  
• This species is found in a wide variety of freshwater habitats, mainly in nutrient-rich lakes and large to medium sized rivers and backwaters. Also recorded from small lowland streams and from brackish coastal lagoons.

Fish Size Common Length:

Commonly found between 15-25 cm, maximum size around 50 cm and 2 kg.