The Deelder fishlock at Balranald Weir has been automated to provide a continuous pathway for fish to move up the Murrumbidgee River.

The lock, the only one of its kind operating in the world, was developed in Belgium in 1950, and adapted to suit conditions at the Balranald site in 2003.

It works like a navigation lock for boats, and until this year, was operated manually, so fish could only migrate when staff were onsite.

An initial fish migration assessment identified over 14,000 fish and shrimp (from 11 species) moving through the automated fishlock in 39 days.

The success of this project has led fisheries managers to consider this lock for key sites in NSW.

For more information, contact Lee Baumgartner at lee.baumgartner@dpi.nsw.gov.au