Fishers for fish habitat forum 2011

Murray cod with

Following the success of the 2009 and 2010 Forums the Fishers for Fish Habitat program hosted the 2011 Forum in Tamworth on the 20-21 May. Nearly 70 recreational fishers from across NSW attended the 2011 event, which for the first time was hosted in a regional country centre west of the range.

The programme

The free 2 day event included formal presentations, interactive discussions and a relaxed dinner with local fishing personality Dave Hodge - The Barefoot Fisherman. International guest speaker renowned Irish Fisheries Scientist Dr Martin O’Grady presented at the event and provided an insight into fisheries management in Ireland and Europe.  Participants enjoyed a bus and walking tour around the local Peel River; checking out fish habitat issues, successful rehabilitation projects and had a chance to try out a long-stem tubestock planting technique for river bank rehabilitation.

A number of informative presentations were provided including.

Participant involvement

Participants were invited to complete a survey at the Forum to enable coordinators to determine the views of participants towards habitat, the level of habitat knowledge and involvement in habitat projects. Results from the survey have been collated (PDF, 46.97 KB).

During the Peel River walk participants were split into groups and provided fish habitat scenarios which they may come across when out and about on their local rivers and creeks. Each group was asked to identify the fish habitat issues in each scenario and answer a series of questions relating to how they would address these issues. These questions form the basis of many environmental grant funding applications. Each group presented their answers to the Forum (PDF, 30.48 KB).