Premier opens worlds only trout-cod fishery in Lake Sambell PREMIER Daniel Andrews returned to the North East last Friday with good news for our region. Having grown up in Wangaratta he felt relaxed and at home as he began his visit at Lake Sambell at Beechworth. I often came here as a boy, and Beechworth is such a beautiful, historic town, he said. The lake is in great shape, and today we are proud to release trout-cod for carefully restricted recreational fishing both here and at Lake Kerferd. These beautiful native fish became an endangered species, and they still must not be taken from our rivers and streams. However, Fisheries Victoria are doing a great job in restoring their numbers, and by stocking these lakes we are assisting this cause, supporting a $2.3 billion pastime, developing a unique tourist attraction and creating the only place in the world where you can fish for trout-cod. Creating Australias first troutcod fishery makes our state an even better place to wet a line with the kids, family and friends. At the same time we are closing down commercial net fishing in Port Phillip and Westernport bays, he said. Premier Andrews and his team then stopped in at the Bridge Road Brewery where he launched a new $3m regional marketing campaign, Visit Victoria. Continued page 6 Fishermens friend From page 1 Victoria is a leader in the visitor economy and this campaign includes a new structure which will provide a single voice to sell our strengths and keep us number one, he said. We will work closely with Industry and with Regional Tourism Boards to increase tourism which already contributes $21 billion to our economy annually, and generates employment for around 206,000 people state wide. The North East has so much to offer with fine food and wine, world class scenery, events and accommodation and Beechworth is a jewel in the crown. Ben Kraus is a fine example of what can be done here having built his very successful brewery business from scratch. We are excited about Visit Victoria because it will now offer a single point of entry for tourist related industry and a unified approach to marketing world wide, he said