Review of the Silver Perch Recovery Plan

Summary

Silver Perch are a moderately large freshwater fish native to the Murray-Darling Basin. The species was once abundant in this region, from the cool upper reaches of streams to warmer, slow-flowing lowland rivers. However the species has suffered a dramatic decline in abundance and distribution since European settlement. Today only one large self-sustaining population remains in NSW in the central Murray River.

Silver Perch is listed as ‘vulnerable’ under the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994 and 'critically endangered' under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

A recovery plan was prepared for Silver Perch in 2006. The overall objective of the plan is to prevent the extinction and ensure the recovery of Silver Perch populations in NSW. The plan was developed in accordance with the requirements of the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994 and requires a major review within ten years of its publication.

This document comprises the review and complies with the requirements of the Fisheries Management Act 1994. The review of the recovery actions was undertaken in consultation with a range of managers and scientists and drew on several different sources of information (e.g. Fisheries Scientific Committee's Annual Reviews of the threatened species lists, scientific papers, consultants reports, internal DPI reports and personal communication with a range of professionals with involvement in Silver Perch research, management and compliance operations).

The implementation details for each recovery action program area (e.g. Research and Investigation activities, Compliance and Regulatory Activities and Management Activities) are outlined in the report.