The Native Fish Strategy (NFS) was developed in 2002 to coordinate the recovery of the Murray-Darling Basin’s (MDB) decimated fish populations through amelioration of their major threats. This is the second Native Fish Strategy Annual Implementation Report. The document fulfils the Murray-Darling Basin Fish Management and Science Committee’s reporting commitment and provides a framework for the reporting of national and state progress towards implementation of the NFS.

In its second year of life, the NFS is still developing and consolidating, actively guided by the various committees. The Fish Management and Science Committee (FMSC) oversees implementation of the Strategy, assisted by the Community Stakeholder Group (CSG). NFS Coordinators carry out extension work and facilitate the NFS’s on-ground application, and the Fish Passage Reference Group (FPRG) provides advice on fishway design, location and monitoring. During the year, the Murray Cod Reference Group (MCRG) was established to provide expert advice and leadership on all matters relating to Murray cod and its management.

The year saw initiation of several new projects, preparations made for implementation of others, and established projects beginning to yield results.

The FMSC initiated a major review of the ‘Sea to Hume Dam’ Fishway Program. This ambitious program aims to restore free passage to fish communities from Hume Dam to the sea, a distance of 2,225 km. To this end, the MDBC is constructing 15 fishways at 13 sites; at this stage, seven have been installed. Fish monitoring is helping to improve fishway performance and, excitingly, showing that the structures are allowing passage of large numbers of fish.

The fishways’ research has also resulted in significant advances in knowledge of the ecology of native fish, fishway design and monitoring technology. The program has received much support from the four participating States and garnered considerable international interest because of the unique design intent of restoring passage to whole fish communities.

Trial resnagging is proving successful for a variety of fish species and can be targeted at particular species. Several sites have been selected for restoration of instream and riverine habitat. The Demonstration Reach concept is progressing towards implementation, with the identification of several suitable sites across the States that will benefit from intervention and be used to demonstrate how threats to native fish populations can be managed. A demonstration reach manual is in preparation.

During the year, consideration was made of the value of Habitat Management Areas for the protection of freshwater fish and their habitats, and a study initiated on the existing system and the need for additional measures. In recognition of the poor protection currently afforded the threatened Murray Crayfish, the FMSC initiated a knowledge scoping study for that species. Projects are underway on the identification of barriers to movement and significant habitat for the threatened Murray cod.

Among the many new projects is a review of the impacts of native fish stocking on fish within the Basin. At the same time techniques are being investigated that will allow discrimination of released stock from wild fish. Fish survey information from around the MDB is being collated, and innovative techniques identified and implemented to analyse the data, to provide an overview of the status of native fish in the Basin and trends in abundance and distribution. Other studies are tackling the impact of managed flows on native fish, and the incidence of entrainment of fish into off-stream habitats by irrigation practices.

The MDBC-funded ‘Daughterless carp’ Project comprises seven sub-projects to test the hypothesis that male-bearing Carp could drive down the population across the Basin. Results to date indicate that the daughterless approach is technically feasible and would be acceptable to the public. Other progress towards control of invasive fish species includes the development of rapid response plans and their trialing. Not least, the award-winning Carp separation cage (the ‘Williams’ separation cage’) was fully automated with no loss of efficiency, and the design was finalised in 2005.

Indigenous involvement continues, and a report is in preparation that condenses information on the significance of Murray cod to Aboriginal people, and documents the species’ contemporary and historical significance recorded directly from the people themselves.

As part of their ongoing commitment to the NFS, substantial reports against the six driving actions of the NFS have been received from the five states and territories with a stake in the Basin: New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria. They appear in the CD attached to this document.

The securing of adequate, long-term funding and the setting of priorities remain challenges to the implementation of the NFS. The task is daunting, yet there is wide support to reverse damage to the Basin’s aquatic systems for the benefit of their native fish. Rehabilitation work, guided by research, has begun and is proving successful, but there is a long road ahead.