The fish consider the mice so tasty that some anglers have special lures resembling rodents that they bring out during mouse plagues, Mr Lampard said.

But wildlife advocates worry that appetite for mice could put the fish in danger if the state government succeeds in having a new, super strong poison approved for use against the mice.

NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall has advocated for the federal government to allow the use of bromadiolone to kill mice, a poison he has compared to “napalm”.