The annual Native Fish Awareness Week wraps up its 2008 tour of NSW with a visit to the Tamworth region on Thursday 22 May and Friday 23 May.

"The Native Fish Awareness team have an exciting program planned to finish off Native Fish Awareness Week with a bang!" said Anthony Townsend, northern NSW coordinator of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission"s (MDBC"s) Native Fish Strategy.

There will be three native fish activities in on Thursday 22 May:

• "Native fish fry in Narrabri" is an event at one of the biggest hatcheries in NSW, Namoi Valley Aquafarming. The tour and talks are from 11:30am - 12:30pm, 10km south of Narrabri via Jacks Creek Road, and are followed by a BBQ. Register your interest by calling Anthony Townsend at the Tamworth NSW Department of Primary Industries office on (02) 6765 4243.
• The Community Stakeholder Taskforce and coordinators of the Native Fish Strategy will visit schools in and around Tamworth to talk with children about native fish conservation.
• "Talking Fish in Tamworth" is an open community forum in the Grand Ballroom of the Wests Diggers Club, Kable Avenue, from 7pm - 8:30pm.

"The community forum includes presentations, a native fish trivia quiz with great prizes up for grabs and plenty of opportunities for questions from the local community." Mr Townsend said.

"The forum is a great opportunity for the public to not only learn more about the Native Fish Strategy, but also for general discussion on the condition of native fish in and around Tamworth." said Adrian Wells, Chair of the Community Stakeholder Taskforce of the Native Fish Strategy.

The Tamworth 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.

The Tamworth activities 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 about 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 tour participants, or for information on specific events, phone:

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