Priorities Action Statement - Actions for Silver Perch

Recovery Actions

Advice to consent and determining authorities

• Provide other relevant information to support appropriate planning and impact assessment (e.g. Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines) (Medium priority).
• Negotiate with local councils and industry groups regarding the type and scale of development near key areas known to support significant remnant populations of Silver Perch (Medium priority).

Community and stakeholder liaison, awareness and education

• Ensure that councils, government agencies and other relevant organisations are aware of the location of important areas for Silver Perch, for example by providing maps of known and potential habitat and the location of significant barriers (High priority).
• Ensure that the Threatened, Protected and Pest Species Sighting Program is widely promoted throughout the NSW section of the Murray-Darling Basin, and encourage reporting of any sightings of Silver Perch in rivers (Medium priority).
• Produce and distribute information brochures (e.g. Primefacts) and other advisory materials to angling groups and other stakeholders, and make them available in NSW DPI offices and at appropriate functions (e.g. expos, public meetings) (Medium priority).
• Develop appropriate advisory materials (e.g. Primefacts) (Medium priority).
• Produce information and materials for use by Fishcare volunteers (Low priority).
• Encourage and support the involvement of indigenous communities in implementing Silver Perch recovery actions (Low priority).
• Incorporate information on the threatened status of Silver Perch, and the steps that should be taken to reduce impacts on wild populations, in aquaculture advisory programs (Low priority).

Compliance / enforcement

• Improve recreational fishers' compliance with fishing regulations in priority Silver Perch areas (Medium priority).
• Review the available evidence on impacts of fishing on Silver Perch and the current regulations to determine the need for any changes, e.g. a seasonal closure to protect spawning populations and/or restrictions on certain gear types (Medium priority).

Enhance, modify or implement NRM planning processes to minimize adverse impacts on threatened species

• In consultation with aquatic ecologists, develop guidelines and principles to help determine the ecological needs of Silver Perch and flow levels required to complete their lifecycle, and distribute this information to water management committees and other relevant agencies (High priority).
• Encourage the development of a dedicated NSW Cold Water Pollution Reduction Program, including a program of works and funding options, for whole-of-government endorsement and action. Investigate the contribution of smaller impoundments (e.g. weir pools) to reductions in river temperatures, and low-cost options for their management (Medium priority).
• Negotiate with relevant authorities to encourage identification, assessment and modification of natural resource management plans and policies to minimise impacts on stream flows, connectivity of habitats, riparian vegetation and water quality (Medium priority).
• Continue to implement the NSW Indigenous Fisheries Strategy (Low priority).

Habitat rehabilitation

• Continue to work on restoring fish passage in the Murray-Darling Basin, for example through the Weir Review Program, Aquatic Habitat Rehabilitation Program and MDBC 'Lake Hume to the Sea' project (High priority).
• Identify the most significant barriers to migration of Silver Perch on a Statewide basis and seek funding for capital works to provide fish passage at these sites (High priority).
• Work with councils and relevant government agencies to mitigate the effects of other barriers to fish passage (e.g. roads and culverts) (High priority).
• Continue to advocate (e.g. through environmental flows reference groups) increased allocation and improved management of environmental flows, particularly in areas known to support remnant natural populations and at critical phases of the life cycle, and reduced diversion volumes during the spawning and larval period (Medium priority).
• Encourage the development of a strategy for the Murray-Darling Basin to address the need for variable level off-takes or alternative options for large dams where thermal pollution is a problem, including a priority list (Medium priority).
• Encourage community groups, relevant natural resource management agencies, local councils and landholders to protect and rehabilitate riparian vegetation and instream habitats along key river stretches where remnant Silver Perch populations are known to occur (Medium priority).

Research / monitoring

• Develop a sampling protocol and conduct targeted sampling to identify the location of remaining natural populations of Silver Perch ensuring that genetic samples (fin clips) are collected from any captured Silver Perch (High priority).
• In collaboration with a university or other research institution, initiate a project (or projects) to investigate key areas of the biology and ecology of Silver Perch to provide information critical to the recovery program (e.g. migration, habitat requirements, factors critical to successful spawning and recruitment, interactions with introduced species, and environmental tolerances). They may include encouraging university students (honours or postgraduate) to undertake relevant projects (High priority).
• Conduct research to determine the status of identified remnant populations (High priority).
• Continue to collect and collate data on Silver Perch using fishways such as that at Torrumbarry Weir (Medium priority).
• In collaboration with a university or other research institution, initiate a project to determine population genetic variation of Silver Perch in NSW (Medium priority).
• If possible, establish the origin (wild vs stocked) of identified remnant populations in rivers (Medium priority).
• Ensure priority is given to research in areas where relatively large, natural populations currently exist, to enable identification of key features of these environments (e.g. key components of flow regimes) and the species' habitat requirements, including use of floodplain habitats (Medium priority).
• In collaboration with a university or other research institution, initiate a project to investigate the occurrence of EHNV and other disease agents in wild populations of Silver Perch, and assess their potential impacts (Medium priority).
• Conduct research to determine the cumulative impacts of stocking on wild populations (Medium priority).
• Use the Sustainable Rivers Audit as a long term monitoring program to assess the ongoing status of Silver Perch in the Murray-Darling Basin (Medium priority).
• Complement Sustainable Rivers Audit monitoring with targeted monitoring and survey of the status of remnant wild populations and re-established populations resulting from conservation-stocking programs (Medium priority).
• Investigate the contribution of smaller impoundments (e.g. weir pools) to reductions in river temperatures, and low-cost options for their management (Low priority).

Stocking / translocation

• Implement appropriate controls on Silver Perch farms at the development application stage to minimise the risk of fish escaping into the wild (High priority).
• Improve management of genetic stocks through the Hatchery Quality Assurance Program to ensure use of appropriate broodstock and tracking of sale of different genetic stocks (Medium priority).
• Develop and implement approvals processes for Silver Perch hatcheries that recognise different requirements and standards for production for aquaculture as opposed to stocking into the environment (Medium priority).
• Review and assess stocking proposals to ensure no significant impacts on wild Silver Perch populations (Medium priority).
• Review genetics information to ensure genetically appropriate broodstock are collected to form the basis of a conservation-stocking program (Medium priority).
• Identify and assess appropriate conservation-stocking sites in accordance with stocking review guidelines in the NSW Freshwater Fish Stocking Fishery Management Strategy and having regard to the habitat requirements of the species and the requirements of this recovery plan (Medium priority).

Survey / mapping

• Compile existing records of Silver Perch (both scientific and anecdotal) and map the species' current known distribution in NSW (High priority).
• Continue to collate data on the presence / absence of Silver Perch collected during incidental and formal surveys including the Sustainable Rivers Audit (High priority).
• Incorporate any information obtained from the public into the species database, available via the web, and use it to assist in mapping the current distribution of Silver Perch (Low priority).

*(NB: the PAS actions for Silver Perch are taken from the approved NSW recovery plan for the species).