Fish find more room to move in Tweed Shire

Water flow and fish passage have been improved in the Tweed’s Rowlands Creek and Rous River after the removal of two disused road crossings.

The Tweed Shire Council had removed a concrete causeway over Rowlands Creek and a log sill on the Rous River, opening up 11 kilometres of upstream habitat for native fish in the area.

During certain times of year, the old crossings blocked fish from migrating upstream to potential breeding and feeding habitat due to the waterfall effects the structures created.

Native fish rely on a variety of habitat types to complete their life cycle and need free movement along rivers and streams to migrate to these habitats.

More than two-thirds of coastal fish species - including Australian bass, sea mullet, short finned and long-finned eels, freshwater mullet and freshwater herring - migrate as part of the lifecycle.

Member for Tweed Neville Newell said the recent removal was funded by the State Government through a Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority contract , with in-kind support from Tweed Shire Council. 

In addition, the Department of Lands waived the short-term licence application fee required to access crown land.

“The State Government identified the structures on Rowlands Creek and the Rous River as barriers to fish passage during a recent Primary Industries audit of over 2600 road crossings in the Northern Rivers region,” he said. 

“Removing these structures will be particularly beneficial for local species such as Australian bass and freshwater mullet because they migrate between fresh and salt water to spawn.

“I must congratulate the Council for recognising the need to restore the natural water flow and agreeing to remove the disused road crossings.”

The structures took less than a day to remove and the Rowlands Creek site will be revegetated by the Council river rehabilitation team.