Native Fish Strategy - Summary

This Strategy provides a response to the key threats to native fish populations in the Murray- Darling Basin.  These range from flow regulation, habitat degradation, lowered water quality, manmade barriers to fish movement, the introduction of alien fish species, fisheries exploitation, the spread of diseases and translocation and stocking of fish.  Native fish populations in the Basin’s rivers have declined under these threats with experts estimating that current levels are about 10 per cent compared to pre-European settlement.  The vision of this Strategy is to ensure that the Basin sustains viable fish populations and communities throughout its rivers.

The goal of this Strategy is to rehabilitate native fish communities in the Basin back to 60 per cent of their estimated pre-European settlement levels after 50 years of implementation.
In the absence of targets that underpin accountability arrangements, the best expert advice recommends the following as examples of indications of the level of implementation needed by 2013:

• An overall increase of aquatic structural habitat values of 20 per cent; and
• Functional processes and river floodplain links re-established for 80 per cent of remaining wetland habitats through improved flow management.

This Strategy has been developed and will be implemented within the context of the Murray- Darling Basin Commission’s Integrated Catchment Management Policy.  This policy reflects a commitment by the community and governments to do all that needs to be done to manage and use the resources of the Basin in an ecologically sustainable manner.

A substantial reallocation of funding will be needed by governments and the community to implement this Strategy.  This partnership approach depends on the commitment of individual landholders, Indigenous communities, Landcare groups, catchment management organisations, waterway managers, urban and rural community groups, local, State and Australian Government agencies, as well as the Murray-Darling Basin Commission.

The Strategy will address its goal and targets through strategic actions designed to achieve 13 objectives directed at improving the status of native fish populations in the Basin.  These objectives are to:

1. Repair and protect key components of aquatic and riparian habitats;
2. Rehabilitate and protect the natural functioning of wetlands and floodplain habitats;
3. Improve key aspects of water quality that affect native fish;
4. Modify flow regulation practices;
5. Provide adequate passage for native fish;
6. Devise and implement recovery plans for threatened native fish species;
7. Create and implement management plans for other native fish species and communities;
8. Control and manage alien fish species;
9. Protect native fish from threats of disease and parasites;
10. Manage fisheries in a sustainable manner;
11. Protect native fish from the adverse effects of translocation and stocking;
12. Ensure native fish populations are not threatened from aquaculture; and
13. Ensure community and partner ownership and support for native fish management.

These 13 objectives will be achieved by implementing six driving actions that include
management, research and investigation, and community engagement interventions:

• Rehabilitating fish habitat – helping to achieve objectives 1–8;
• Protecting fish habitat – helping to achieve objectives 1–8;
• Managing riverine structures – helping to achieve objectives 4–8;
• Controlling alien fish species – helping to achieve objectives 6–9;
• Protecting threatened native fish species–helping to achieve objectives 6 and 10; and
• Managing fish translocation and stocking–helping to achieve objectives 9–12.

All of the driving actions include a community engagement component designed to achieve objective 13.

Reference

For the revised Fish Management Plan, see Murray-Darling Basin Fish Management.

Murray-Darling Basin Commission (1991): Fish Management Plan. Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra.