BACKGROUND

The Kew Fish Hatchery operated from 1900 until its closure in 1954 and was built by the Victorian Government.

 

It was located near the corner of the Johnston St Bridge Rd (now known as Studley Park Rd) and Walmer St, Kew.

 

It originally consisted of a series of unfenced ponds, which were built in 1900 to supplement a small trout hatchery at Royal Park. At that time it was intended to remove fry hatched at Royal Park to Studley Park to be reared to the yearling stage. It was found, however, that the water temperatures at Studley Park during the summer were too high for the young trout, and the scheme was abandoned and  the ponds were closed down in the early 1920s.

 

MID 1920s

The cultivation of Murray fish had become a feature of the operations of the Fisheries and Game Department. It was thought the ponds could effectively used to that end, as both the Murray perches (Golden and Macquarie's) and the cod were not as susceptible to warm water temperatures as the cold water trout.

 

OCTOBER, 1925

improvements were made and the centre was reopened. The old ponds were fenced in, and prepared for the reception of stock fish and by 1926 thousands of Murray fry were ready for transfer. They were then despatched to the waters they were to stock. A liberal proportion of Macquarie perch fry was allocated to the Yarra, and other metropolitan streams, and later on small parcels of golden perch and cod were liberated in them but, those fish were mainly sent to country districts.

 

Water for the facility was drawn from the adjacent Studley Reservoir, itself supplied  with fresh water from a rising main from the Dight's Falls Pumping Station on the Yarra, at Abbotsford.

 

Stock fish other than trout from the Goulburne were obtained as opportunity occurred during the summer, and released into the Studley Park ponds. until spawning time in spring and distributed as fry a few weeks later.

 

Golden perch were not allocated to the Yarra or any other stream near the city. The golden perch and Murray cod will withstand fairly high temperatures, and were eminently useful for stocking streams and lakes in the Western District, and elsewhere. Waters such as Lake Learmonth. Lake Burrumbeet, Lake Colac, and Taylor's Lake rear Horsham were then strongly stocked with golden perch.

 

Thousands of quinnat salmon eggs were scrutinised at the fish hatcheries, and the dead ones removed.

 

FACILITY LAYOUT

The rear of the area had a large tin shed where the fish were hatched and closer to the road was a series of large rectangular concrete tanks, which were filled in when the facility closed down. The actual tanks were located in the open grassy area now enclosed by tall mature pine trees - the tops of the walls of some of the tanks may be seen embedded in the grass. An aerial photo of the facility in 1945 shows the pine trees as small saplings!