Anglers asked to help study fish migrations

Anglers are being asked to assist NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) scientists to study the migration patterns of fish along the Murray River system.

The fishways project officer with the Department of Primary Industries fisheries, Mr Lee Baumgartner, said the DPI researchers were using innovative methods to automatically record the movement of fish.

"NSW DPI aquatic ecosystems scientists, together with their counterparts from the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment and the South Australian Research and Development Institute, have been tagging fish along the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers with microchip tags similar to those used to tag pets," Mr Baumgartner said.

"Automated tracking stations that record the movement of fish through fishways are being progressively installed along the Murray River.

"Unlike previous tagging studies that relied on recapturing the fish, the tracking stations automatically record the location of the fish as they swim through the fishway.

"The fish have also been externally tagged with yellow tags that can be easily recognised by anglers. Contact details to report the recapture of tagged fish are printed on each tag.

"NSW anglers who catch a tagged fish in the region are asked to freecall 1800 185 027 to report the date of the catch, tag number, place of catch, length and species of fish.

"The release of tagged fish after capture is encouraged and a reward of a fishway project hat is offered to anglers for reporting in.

"Since the tagging of fish began in 2001 more than 6000 fish have been tagged and released into the main channel of the Murray River and Murrumbidgee Rivers. This large scale tagging of fish will continue at numerous sites within the Murray-Darling Basin until 2008."

Species to be tagged include native fish such as Murray cod, silver perch, golden perch and bony bream, and introduced fish such as carp, goldfish and redfin perch.

This work will provide vital information on the movement patterns of native fish, which will help manage their populations. It will also provide important biological information on introduced species which can be used to develop better methods for their control.

Automatic tracking stations have been installed at Euston Weir, funded by the Recreational Freshwater Fishing Trust, and at locks seven, eight and nine, near Wentworth, funded by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. The installation of automatic tracking stations will continue until they are installed at all weirs along the Murray River, and also at some sites within the Murrumbidgee River.

Initial results show that some fish have moved more than 500km along the river in as little as three months and as far as 1,700km over two years.

Media contact: Howard Spencer 02 66568800 or mobile 0428 696672