Jailbreak: a fishway releases the endangered Macquarie perch from confinement below an anthropogenic barrier

Broadhurst, B.T., Ebner, B.C., Lintermans, M., Thiem, J.D., and Clear, R.C. (2013) Jailbreak: a fishway releases the endangered Macquarie perch from confinement below an anthropogenic barrier. Marine and Freshwater Research, 64 (9). pp. 900-908.

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View at Publisher Website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF12245
 
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Abstract

Management interventions are often needed to facilitate the recovery of ecosystems affected as a result of human alteration. Population-level monitoring is often central to evaluating the effectiveness of specific on-ground actions. In the present study, we assessed the response of a remnant population of the endangered Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica) to the construction of a rock ramp fishway on the Cotter River, Australia, over a 7-year period. Prior to fishway construction, this obligate riverine spawner had been previously confined to Cotter Reservoir and six kilometres of stream by a raised road-crossing. Surveys conducted in the 2 years following fishway completion failed to detect Macquarie perch upstream of the fishway. Subsequent surveys (6–7 years post-fishway completion) detected Macquarie perch up to 12 km upstream of the fishway. The number and distribution of smaller-sized individuals (0+ (<100-mm total length (TL) and 1+ (100- to >150-mm TL)) suggests that individuals found upstream of the fishway are resident stream fish and not fish that have migrated from known downstream spawning areas. The success of the fishway has been timely because enlargement of a downstream reservoir will inundate four kilometres of river and destroy the majority of spawning sites of this species downstream of the fishway in the Cotter River.

Item ID: 32095
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1448-6059
Keywords: distribution, fish passage, long-term assessment, Macquaria, Percichthyidae, rock-ramp fishway
Funders: Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, Australian Government, Natural Heritage Trust
Date Deposited: 24 Apr 2014 05:18
FoR Codes: 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050211 Wildlife and Habitat Management @ 50%
06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060204 Freshwater Ecology @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960506 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments @ 50%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960802 Coastal and Estuarine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity @ 50%
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