It follows the annual three-month breeding closure for cod in the streams.

There is a change in size limit for the coming year in both Victorian and NSW, with a minimum of 55 centimetres and maximum of 75 centimetres.

“Recent changes now mean that while catch and release is allowed, it is a requirement to release all cod caught outside the slot limit with the least possible harm,” NSW Department of Primary Industries inland fisheries manager Cameron Westaway said yesterday.

“The new rules should increase the number of larger cod in the system, improving both the long term sustainability of this great recreational fishery as well as increasing the chance of catching that fish of a lifetime.”

DPI acting director fisheries compliance, Patrick Tully, said fisheries officers would continue to monitor inland waterways, particularly during the holiday season, to ensure anglers followed all recreational fishing rules.

“A daily bag limit of two cod per person per day and a total possession limit of four applies when fishing in any inland waters,” Mr Tully said.

But Victorian anglers also have new catch limits this season.

Fisheries Victoria executive director Ross McGowan said the new limits would improve the sustainability of the cod fishery.

Mr McGowan said the new “slot limit” of 55 to 75 centimetres applied to all lakes and rivers throughout Victoria and had been mirrored in NSW waters, including the Murray River, for simplicity.

Mr McGowan said there were changes to the bag limit for cod.

“In rivers, the daily bag limit had been reduced from two to one,” he said.

“This excludes the Murray River, which is a NSW waterway for fisheries management.

“This enables Victorian anglers to take one smaller fish for the table, while ensuring all large breeders are returned to the water and contribute to future generations.

“In Victorian lakes, the daily bag limit of two cod remains unchanged because most lake fisheries are stocked populations where harvest by anglers poses no threat to sustainability.”