OPEN ACCESS
In 2003, the Australian government launched The Native Fish Strategy for the Murray Darling Basin 2003–2013 with the objective of restoring native fish populations in the Murray Darling Basin to 60% of their of pre-European (before 1788) settlement levels. Ten years on, there is no evidence that native fish populations show any sign of recovery, despite the Millennium drought breaking and significant government expenditure including the buyback of irrigation licences to increase in-streamflow and facilitate the watering of adjacent forests and wetlands. We review the native fish strategy, considering the five priority interventions originally identified. We conclude that more freshwater is unlikely to be effective at restoring native fish populations unless three additional issues are addressed: cold-water pollution, predation from introduced salmonids and the damming of the estuary. Unfortunately, however, these contentious issues are neither identified nor discussed in the new official planning document.
Native fish, Murray River, cold-water pollution, estuary, salmonids
[1] Murray Darling Basin Commission, Rivers Losses and End of System Flows Fact Sheet, Canberra, 2003. http://www2.mdbc.gov.au/__data/page/20/water_resourcesver2.pdf
[2] Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council, Native Fish Strategy for the Murray-Darling Basin 2003-2013, Murray Darling Basin Commission, Canberra, 63 pp, 2004.
[3] Koehn, J., Smart partnerships bring back native fish. RipRap, 3–4, pp. 3–4, 2012.
[4] Marohasy, J. & Abbot, J., Deconstructing the native fish strategy for Australia’s Murray Darling catchment. River Basin Management VII, ed. C.A. Brebbia, WIT Press: Southampton, pp. 339–349, 2013. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2495/rbm130281
[5] Lyon, J., Resnagging the Murray River. RipRap, 3–4, pp. 24–25, 2012.
[6] Hobson, M., Namoi demonstration reach. RipRap, 3–4, 30 pp, 2012.
[7] King, A.J., Tonkin, Z. & Lieschcke, J., Short-term effects of a prolonged blackwater event on aquatic fauna in the Murray River, Australia: considerations for future events. Marine and Freshwater Research, 63, pp, 576–586, 2012. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf11275
[8] Murray Darling Basin Authority, 2013-14 Basin annual environmental watering priorities: overview and technical summaries, p. 94, June 2013.
[9] Brice, C., Literature review on the ecology of fishes of the Lower Murray, Lower Lakes and Coorong. SARDI Publication No. F2010/000031-1, Henley Beach, South Australia, 2010.
[10] Econsearch, Economic indicators for the Lakes and Coorong fishery 2008/09. Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, Adelaide, 47 pp, 2010.
[11] Phillips, B. (ed), Conceptual model to guide investments for restoring native fish in the Murray-Darling Basin. Report by the expert panel convened by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, 32 pp, 2002.
[12] Craik, W., Murray fishways set world ecosystem restoration standard. Murray Darling Basin Commission, Media Release, 2008.
[13] Towers, I., Personal communication, 8 January 2013, Director, Native Fish Strategy, Murray Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.
[14] News Ltd., Love is in the air in the Lower Lakes – and the government is playing Cupid. July 27, 2010.
[15] Ryan, T., Webb, A., Lennie, R. & Lyon, J., Status of cold water pollution releases from Victorian dams. Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Melbourne, 72 pp, 2001.
[16] Lugg, A., Eternal winter in our rivers: addressing the issue of cold water pollution. NSW Department of Fisheries, Nowra, 17 pp, 1999.
[17] Sherman, B., Todd, C.R., Koehn, J.D. & Ryan, T., Modelling the impact and potential mitigation of cold water pollution on Murray cod populations downstream of Hume dam, Australia. River Research and Applications, 23, pp. 377–389, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.994
[18] Koehn, J.D. & Lintermans, M., A strategy to rehabilitate fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin, south-eastern Australia. Endangered Species Research, 16, pp. 165–181, 2012. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/esr00398
[19] Sherman, B.S., Scoping options for mitigating cold water discharges from dams. CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra, p. 130, 2000.
[20] Cadwallader, P.L., Overview of the impacts of introduced salmonids on Australian native fauna. Australian Nature Conservation Agency, p. 69, 1996.
[21] Victorian Fly Fisher’s Association, http://www.vffa.org.au
[22] Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Hollands Creek Demonstration Reach, http://www.gbcma.vic.gov.au/hollandscreek/creek.asp
[23] Ryan, D.A., Heapm, A.D., Radke, L. & Heggie, D.T., Conceptual models of Australia’s estuaries and coastal waterways: application for coastal resource management. Geoscience Australia Record 2003/09, 2003.
[24] Battarbee, R.W., Bennion, H., Gell, P. & Rose, N., Human impacts on lacustrine ecosystems (Chapter 27). The SAGE Handbook of Environmental Change, ed. J.A. Matthews, SAGE Publications: London, 2012.
[25] Bourman, R.P., Murray-Wallace, C.V., Belperio, A.P. & Harvey, N., Rapid coastal geomorphic change in the River Murray Estuary of Australia. Marine Geology, 170, pp. 141–168, 2000. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0025-3227(00)00071-2
[26] Olsen, A.M., The Coorong: a multi-species fishery. Part 1, history and development. Fisheries Research Papers No. 22. Department of Fisheries, South Australia, 1991.
[27] Marohasy, J., Myth and the Murray: measuring the real state of the river environment. Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne, p. 27, 2003.
[28] Harris, J.H. & Gehrke, P.C., (eds). Fish and Rivers in Stress, The NSW Rivers Survey, NSW Office of Conservation/Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology: Sydney/Canberra, p. 293, 1997.
[29] Davies, P., Stewardson, M., Hillman, T., Roberts, J. & Thoms, M., Sustainable Rivers Audit 2: The Ecological Health of Rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin at the End of the Millennium Drought (2008-2010), Murray Darling Basin Authority: Canberra, p. 418, 2010.
[30] Ingram, B.A., Hayes, B. & Rourke, M.L., Impacts of stock enhancement strategies on the effective population size of Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii, a threatened Australian fish. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 18, pp. 467–481, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2400.2011.00798.x
[31] Sheldon, F., Thoms, M.C., Berry, O. & Puckridge, J., Using disaster to prevent catastrophe: referencing the impacts of flow changes in large dryland rivers. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management, 16, pp. 403–420, 2000. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1099-1646(200009/10)16:5%3C403::aid-rrr593%3E3.0.co;2-3