Teams of fisheries officers and fisheries experts from the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) have worked with other teams from Murrumbidgee Irrigation to successfully relocate hundreds of fish from a canal in Griffith to a new habitat.
Acting Deputy Director General at DPI, Patrick Tully said it was a successful operation.
“Our teams relocated around 200 native fish including Bony Herring, Murray-Darling Rainbowfish and Australian Smelt,” Mr Tully said.
“All species are relatively common across the Murray-Darling Basin and play an important role within the ecology of our rivers,” he said.
“The teams also found some turtles and yabbies.”
He said the relocation was carried out in accordance with specific protocols developed for that type of relocation work and the fish were removed from the water using a backpack electrofisher and nets.
Chief Executive of Murrumbidgee Irrigation, Brett Jones said the relocation was necessary as a section of the Main Canal was drained down in preparation for an upgrade of Griffith’s Leagues Club Regulator, as part of the Lake View Branch Canal expansion project.
“We saw this as great opportunity to work with the DPI Fisheries experts to ensure the fish were relocated and there was no impact on native species,” Mr Jones said.
