Golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) occur throughout most of the Murray-Darling system with the exception of higher altitudes as well as in the Lake Eyre and Bulloo internal drainage systems of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, and the Dawson-Fitzroy river system in south-eastern Queensland (Lake 1971). They are also widespread within the Lower Murray River and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert (Bice 2010).

The Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) is a multi-species, multi-gear fishery and is located in, and adjacent to, the estuary of the Murray River. This comprises the Coorong lagoons, Lower Lakes of the Murray River (Lakes Alexandrina and Albert) and Coorong Coastal Waters (Sloan 2005). Fishers in the LCF primarily use gill nets to target mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), golden perch (Macquaria ambigua), yellow-eye mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), black bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), and greenback flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina).

The LCF is the only commercial fishery permitted to take golden perch in South Australia. Golden perch is an important target species in the LCF and in 2010-11 comprised 4% of the total catch (all species) of the LCF and 19% of the total value (all species). For catches comprising finfish only, golden perch contributed 5% of the catch and 27% of the value in 2010-11 (Ferguson and Ye 2012).

The central stock represents the dominant golden perch stock within the Murray-Darling basin. In addition to the central stock of golden perch Keenan et al (1995) also identified a genetically distinct stock in Lakes Alexandrina and Albert (Faulks et al. 2010).