ASFB Home > The effects of spatial and temporal factors on the abundance of seven key finfish species along south-western Australia.

The Conservation Status of Freshwater Fishes in the Coastal Streams of New South Wales and the Murray-Darling Basin

David Pollard and S A Morris

New South Wales Fisheries, CRONULLA, AUSTRALIA

THEME: ASFB

During 2000-2001, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Commonwealth Government's Fisheries Action Program commissioned NSW Fisheries to prepare a comprehensive report on the status of threatened and potentially threatened freshwater fishes in the coastal streams of New South Wales and the inland waters of the Murray-Darling Basin. This report considered 30 species in some detail, out of the roughly 80 or so native fish species present in this area. Of these, no taxa were listed as Extinct, 2 as Critically Endangered, 8 as Endangered, 4 as Vulnerable, 0 as Lower Risk (conservation dependent), 3 as Lower Risk (near threatened), 11 as Data Deficient, and 2 as Lower Risk (least concern), using the IUCN's conservation status categories. The main fish family groups which stood out as having several members at risk in this analysis were the larger percichthyids (5 species), the galaxiids (5 species) and the atherinids (3 species). The most endangered species identified amongst these groups were the eastern cod, trout cod and Macquarie perch (Percichthyidae), the barred galaxias (Galaxiidae), and the Murray hardyhead (Atherinidae). Other endangered species identified included the Oxleyan pygmy perch and southern pygmy perch (Nannopercidae), and the southern purple-spotted gudgeon (Eleotridae). The main threats facing the freshwater fishes in this area were found to include habitat degradation (due to various forms of water pollution, catchment development and agriculture related activities), changes to flow regimes, barriers to fish passage, introduced alien and translocated native fish species, and fishing pressure. Actions recommended to mitigate these threats included the protection of instream cover and riparian vegetation, restoration of natural flow and temperature regimes, removal of barriers to fish passage, management of pest fish species, preservation of the genetic integrity of native fish populations, and better fisheries management in this area of south-eastern Australia.