Northern Rivers catchment

The Northern Rivers Catchment occupies an area of approximately 50,000 square kilometres from the Camden Haven River in the south to the Queensland border and 160 kilometres inland.

Major rivers are the Tweed, Brunswick, Richmond, Clarence, Bellinger, Nambucca, Macleay and Hastings. The Clarence River discharges five million megalitres each year, the highest of all the State’s coastal rivers.

Fish habitat and diversity

Information was collected about the diversity of fish habitat and species as part of the assessment of fish barriers within the region.

Estuarine Habitat Maps

There is now a complete coverage for the 154 NSW estuaries which contain one or more of the important estuarine habitats such as seagrass, mangrove and saltmarsh. These maps will provide coastal Local Land Services (formerly CMAs) and Local, State and Australian Governments with information to support natural resource condition targets and to monitor the effectiveness of management actions against those targets.

Find out more about Key Fish Habitat mapping.

Fish passage

Barriers to fish passage were assessed throughout the region and a report specifically looking at weirs is available.  In addition, two remediation of road crossings case studies are also available:

  • Kungala Rd, Grafton
  • Gradys Creek Rd, Kyogle

Fish habitat rehabilitation

Landholders, councils, fishing clubs and others in the Clarence catchment area were involved in the pilot projects for fixing freshwater fish habitat under the Recreational Fishing Trust Freshwater Trust.  The report documents each of the sites and the outcomes associated with the projects.

See ...