Native to the east coast of North America, where it’s also called Speckled Trout, Brook Trout is actually a Charr, distinguished from Salmon and Trout by brighter colouring and distinctive white edges to the lower fins. It has a larger mouth than Rainbow or Brown Trouts and light pinkish-red spots over a darker body.
It was introduced to Tasmania in the early 1900s and self-sustaining freshwater populations are found there in Clarence Lagoon and the lakes of the Tyndall Ranges, while hatchery-reared fish are used to maintain populations in Lake Jindabyne (NSW) and a few streams and lakes in SA.
Since around 2005 it has been farmed on a small scale in sea cages in Macquarie Harbour in southwestern Tasmania and marketed as ‘Saltwater Charr’.