Research interests

• State-wide freshwater fish monitoring.
• Captive breeding and reintroduction of threatened fish.
• Fish-habitat associations
• Carp control.
• Environmental water allocations and fish.
• Genetics

Background

Dean Gilligan leads NSW Department of Primary Industries Freshwater Biodiversity & Habitats research team. He joined NSW Fisheries* in 1998 and has undertaken research into fish passage, state-wide freshwater fish monitoring, environmental flows, threatened species biology and recovery, carp impacts and control and population genetics. He has worked from the Port Stephens Fisheries Centre, Narrandera Fisheries Centre (where he spent 7 years as Director of Research) and is now based at Batemans Bay Fisheries Office. He has produced 54 scientific outputs and has co-supervised 12 post-graduate students at various Universities.

*NSW Department of Primary Industries was formed on July 1, 2004 through an amalgamation of NSW Agriculture, NSW Fisheries, State Forests of NSW and the NSW Department of Mineral Resources.

Qualifications

• B.Sc. (Hons) – Macquarie University 1995 
• PhD Conservation Genetics – Macquarie University 2001

Current projects

• Sustainable Rivers Audit; NSW fish theme (funded by the Murray- Darling Basin Commission).
• NSW Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting strategy – Freshwater fish (funded by NSW DPI).
• Implementing targeted carp control at hotspots of carp recruitment in the Lower Lachlan catchment (funded by the IA CRC and the Lachlan CMA).
• Assessment of fish communities for the Snowy River Environmental Flows Project (funded by the NSW DWE).
• Monitoring and assessment of threatened fish across NSW (funded by NSW DPI).
  Status and trends of fish assemblages in the Lower Murray-Darling Catchment (funded by the Lower Murray- Darling CMA).
• Prioritising the rehabilitation of Macquarie perch and Southern Pygmy Perch habitat in the upper Lachlan catchment (funded by the Lachlan CMA).
• Impacts of redfin perch invasion on Macquarie perch in the Upper Lachlan catchment and development of captive breeding capacity (funded by the NSW RFFTEC).
• Population genetics of freshwater catfish (funded by NSW RFFTEC).
• Tallowa Dam High Fishway assessment project (funded by the Sydney Catchment Authority).
• Survey of the endangered Macquarie perch population in Mannus Creek, Murray River catchment, NSW (funded by the Murray CMA).
• Drought emergency response for endangered Southern Pygmy Perch in Coppabella Creek (funded by the Murray CMA and Murray Darling Basin Authority.
• Phylogeography, conservation genetics and stocking management of basses and perches (collaborative project with Macquarie University funded by NSW RFFTEC and the ARC).
• Susceptibility of previously untested Basin fish species to EHN Virus, and the epidemiology of EHN Virus in the wild (collaborative project with the University of Sydney funded by the MDBA) 
• Scoping study to determine methodologies and data availability for identifying native fish hotspots in the Murray–Darling Basin (collaborative project with DSE Vic, SARDI and Griffith University funded by the MDBA).

Recent Publications

Gilligan D (2009) Lower Murray-Darling Catchment Action Plan: Fish Community Monitoring Report Card for 2008/09. Industry & Investment NSW – Fisheries Research Report Series No. 24. ISSN 1837-2120. 62pp.

Haynes GD, Gilligan DM, Grewe P, Nicholas FW (2009) Population genetics and management units of invasive common carp Cyprinus carpio in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. Journal of Fish Biology. 75(2):295-320.

Ebner BC, Thiem JD, Gilligan DM, Lintermans M, Wooden IJ and Linke S (2008) Estimating species richness and catch per unit effort from boat electro-fishing in a lowland river in temperate Australia. Austral Ecology 33: 891–901

Gilligan D and Williams S (2008) Changes in fish assemblages after the first flow releases to the Snowy River downstream of Jindabyne Dam. Snowy River Recovery: Snowy River Flow Response Monitoring. Department of Water and Energy, Sydney

Gilligan D (2008) Lower Murray-Darling Catchment Management Action Plan 2004-2016: Fish Community Monitoring report card for 2006/07. NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries Research Report Series No. 22, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cronulla.

Faulks LK, Gilligan DM & Beheregaray LB (2008) Phylogeography of a threatened freshwater fish (Mogurnda adspersa) in eastern Australia: conservation implications. Marine and Freshwater Research 59: 89-96.

Gilligan D and Rayner T (2007) The distribution, spread, ecological impacts and potential control of carp in the upper Murray River. NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries Research Report Series No. 14, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cronulla.

Gilligan D, Rolls R, Merrick J, Lintermans M, Duncan P and Kohen J (2007) Scoping the knowledge requirements for Murray crayfish (Euastacus armatus). NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries Final Report Series No. 89, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cronulla.

Gilligan D (2007) Annual progress report towards achievement of the Lower Murray Darling Catchment Action Plan 2004 – 2015: Fish Community Monitoring 2005/06. NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries Research Report Series No. 16. ISSN 1449-9959. 42pp.  (summary + PDF file)

Gilligan D (2007) Carp in Australian Rivers. Pages 30 – 39 in D. Lunney, P. Eby, P. Hutchings and S. Burgin (eds), Pest or Guest: the zoology of overabundance. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman, Australia.

Ebner B, Thiem J, Lintermans M and Gilligan D (2006) An ecological approach to re-establishing Australian freshwater cod populations: an application to trout cod in the Murrumbidgee catchment. Final report to Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (Project No. 2003/034). Canberra: Parks, Conservation & Lands.

Baumgartner LJ, Gilligan DM & Reynoldson N (2005) Mortality of Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii peelii) and golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) associated with downstream passage through a low-level weir. Marine and Freshwater Research 57: 187-191.

Gilligan DM (2005) Conservation genetics and stocking for species recovery programs. Pages 39 - 45 in A. Moore & R. Hughes (eds), Proceedings of the ASFB workshop on ‘Stock enhancement of Marine and Freshwater Fisheries’, Australian Society for Fish Biology.

Gilligan D (2005)  Fish communities of the Murrumbidgee catchment: Status and trends. NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries final report series No. 75, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cronulla.

Gilligan D, Gehrke P and Schiller C (2005) Testing methods and ecological consequences of large-scale removal of common carp.  NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries final report series No. 77, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cronulla.

Gilligan D (2005) Fish communities of the Lower Murray-Darling catchment: Status and trends. NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries Final Report Series No. 83, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cronulla.

Professional associations and activities

• International Society for the Conservation Biology; Australasian section
• Australian Society for Fish Biology
• American Fisheries Society
• Australia New Guinea Fishes Association

Fields of Research

• 050103 Invasive Species Ecology
• 050201 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Environmental Knowledge
• 050202 Conservation and Biodiversity
• 050211 Wildlife and Habitat Management
• 050206 Environmental Monitoring
• 060202 Community Ecology (excl. Invasive Species Ecology)
• 060204 Freshwater Ecology
• 060302 Biogeography and Phylogeography
• 060411 Population, Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics
• 070404 Fish Pests and Diseases

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

Keyword/phrase list of research interests

• Freshwater fish
• Threatened species
• Carp
• Environmental flows
• Captive breeding and reintroduction
• Aquatic ecosystems