Infestations of Carp in the Lachlan River are making life very difficult for our native fish.

Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) has helped develop carp separation cages that are starting to appear on waterways around the Basin. In the first two minutes of operation, a cage installed at the Lock 1 fishway last November caught 600kg of carp!

A carp separation cage is about to be installed at the fishway near Condobolin - come and see how it will work at the Condo Carp Caper! There will be three native fish-related activities in the region on Monday 19 May:

• ‘Condo Carp Caper’ is from 3:30pm - 5pm, by the river at the Condobolin Showgrounds. Afternoon tea is provided.
• ‘Spotting Purple Spots’ At Ootha, threatened fish species have been re-stocked and a wetland has been restored to provide native habitat. 4pm - 5:30pm Burrawang West Station, between Forbes and Condobolin.
• ‘Fishy Festivities at Forbes’ is an open community forum at Forbes Services Memorial Club, 41-43 Templar Street from 7pm - 8:30pm. Finger food and refreshments are provided.

"This open community forum is a great opportunity to learn about and have your say about native fish in your local area, and to talk about how best to help them," said Adrian Wells, Chair of the Community Stakeholder Taskforce of the Native Fish Strategy.

"The forum will include information on the current state of native fish in the Macquarie and the Murray-Darling Basin, a native fish trivia quiz with great prizes up for grabs, and time for questions," said Janet Pritchard, southern NSW coordinator of the Strategy.

The forum will finish with light refreshments, and a chance to chat with members of the team travelling throughout inland NSW as part of Native Fish Awareness Week, an initiative of the MDBC’s Native Fish Strategy.

These events are part of a week of native fish events to be held in inland NSW. For a full list of dates and locations of events, or more information on the Native Fish Strategy, visit the MDBC website www.mdbc.gov.au/NFS/, or contact Sam Leone MDBC Media Liaison on 0407 006 332.

To arrange an interview with the Native Fish Awareness Week participants, or for more information on the specific events, phone:

Media contact: for Native Fish Awareness Week Caitlin Howlett 0407 492 456