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

The Murray Fishways: Fact or Fiction?

Ivor Stuart, Lee Baumgartner and Qifeng Ye

Arthur Rylah Institute For Environmental Research, HEIDELBERG, AUSTRALIA

THEME: ASFB

The lack of effective fishways in the Murray-Darling river system has been implicated in the decline of native fish populations. Currently, the Murray-Darling Basin Commission is implementing a fishway construction program to restore fish passage at locks and weirs along the Murray River between Lake Hume and the Goolwa barrages. A tri-state collaborative approach for assessing up to 11 new fishways has been adopted involving state agencies from Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. The key research objectives include quantifying the contribution of the fishways toward improved fish passage and identifying changes to whole native fish communities. Pilot sampling to address these objectives commenced in September 2001 and initially involved field-testing a range of methods to develop a long-term experimental design. To date sampling with two electrofishing boats at sites below Locks 1, 2 and 3 and radio tracking below Lock 7 has revealed a range of important information. For example, significantly different fish communities and size classes were sampled during daylight and night. Data collected will be incorporated into the design of the new fishways while also providing a baseline sample of current fish populations. Construction of fishways at Locks 7 and 8 is likely to commence in late 2002 and individual assessments of these facilities will be used to maximise the efficiency of future fishways. The findings of the project will be discussed in relation to improving passage for native fish throughout the Murray-Darling Basin.