Riparian restoration reaps rewards
King Parrot Creek at Burslems Bridge
There was great news last week from the scientists from Arthur Rylah Institute who recently completed their annual fish survey of King Parrot Creek. Using fyke nets at the usual 5 sites and some electrofishing at intermediate locations, the team caught 386 endangered Macquarie Perch, by far the highest total since surveys began in 2006, and an increase of almost 60% above last year’s catch.
As Jo, one of the survey team, commented: “It’s wonderful to see the creek so healthy, and it really does show that all the hard work that the Landcare group are doing along the creek continues to pay off.”
Some key findings from the survey were:
- Native fish accounted for 86% of all fish collected – 7 species in all
- Macquarie Perch were the dominant species, comprising 64% of the total catch and found at all sites
- One year old MP were the most numerous group, suggesting strong breeding in spring 2013
- Only two introduced species were caught – that means no carp, no goldfish and no redfin
One downside of the survey was that litter, discarded fishing line and illegal fishing traps are still being found along the creek.
We are very grateful to the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority for its continuing support for these fish surveys. To see posts on previous surveys simply type Macquarie Perch into the ‘Search This Site’ box in the right hand sidebar.
Focus On Fauna 
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