The juvenile fish were bred by Narooma Aquaculture from wild broodstock caught on the South Coast and then relocated to regional recreational fishing havens.

It is the largest stocking event for dusky flathead in the region and follows the development of innovative breeding technology of the popular sportfish.

The release of dusky flathead is a key part of the NSW DPI Fisheries Marine Stocking program and will boost local fisheries and provide extra incentive for fishers to wet a line

Legendary South Coast fisho Steve "Starlo" Starling posted on his Facebook page (Starlo's Fishotopia) about how excited he was to take part in the innovative program.

"I'm very pleased and proud of this wonderful NSW DPI Fisheries initiative I've been closely involved with over the past couple of months," he said.

"Back in January, I was one of a group of recreational anglers invited to participate in the capture of brood stock dusky flathead from the Tuross estuary system, to be transported to Narooma Aquaculture's facilities and used in a hatchery breeding and re-stocking program."

He said across two days the group managed to secure close to 60 healthy flatties from legal length up to the low 80cm range.

A bigger flattie in the 90s was also landed, but was deemed too hard to safely handle and transport with a good expectation of survival, so it was tagged and released.

"These fish were induced to spawn at the hatchery and the brood stock then returned to their home waters at Tuross," he said.

"The outcomes of this venture have exceeded all expectations. I was lucky enough to be able to help with the liberation of around 15,000 flathead fry into Lake Conjola, with a further 25,000 going into St Georges Basin.

"There are plans to liberate another 20,000-plus into Burrill Lake next week.

"These fish should significantly boost flathead stocks in those three systems across coming years."

Recreational fishing is an important industry that injects a vital contribution to the state of $1.6 billion in expenditure in the economy each year, creating more than 14,000 jobs both locally and across NSW.

The popular fish species was released at 25mm in length and the fingerlings are expected to grow quickly.

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) scientists and community volunteers will monitor the growth and locations of the fish as they develop.

The work is designed to evaluate the growth of fish, their movements and impact of fish releases on the recreational fishery.

It is planned for another 20,000-plus to be liberated into Burrill Lake next week.

South Coast MP Shelley Hancock said the marine stocking project is another notable example of how money raised through the sale of the recreational fishing license fee is being invested back into initiatives that directly benefit recreational fishers.