Partnerships with local fishers and fishing organisations have been vital to projects supporting the recovery of the habitat and fish stocks in Upper Murray waterways including Cudgewa Creek and Nariel Creek.
Funding from both Victorian and Federal Governments have supported these projects.
Cudgewa Creek fishway construction - June 2022
Construction of a fishway on Cudgewa Creek at Tintaldra has been completed. The Victorian Government is supporting the North East CMA with $3.25 million in funding over two years from 2020-21 through the Government's Capital Stimulus Building Works package to undertake recovery works, including the Cudgewa Creek Fishway project, in response to the 2019-20 Eastern Victorian Bushfires.
Fish recovery in Nariel Creek - June 2022
Electrofishing has determined the strength of fish recovery in Nariel Creek following the 2020 bushfires. Brown trout, Murray cod and native galaxias were found. The Australian Trout Foundation worked closely with the Victorian Fisheries Authority to restock the area.
Cracking the Code - The story of Macquarie perch - 23 June 2022
This new video from Streamline Media Australia features North East CMA Senior Project Officer Andrew Briggs. Download at https://vimeo.com/714305773/9873bc207b
The Macquarie perch is on the verge of extinction and this story helps to provide an insight to how important this species is and how it can be saved. Macquarie perch were among the most abundant native fish in our rivers. Sadly there are only a handful of viable populations left today.
We need to "crack the code" on captive breeding of Macquarie perch, to save the species from extinction.
Local fishers, OzFish support recovery of Cudgewa Creek - 24 June 2021
Local fishers have been central to the recovery of the habitat and fish stocks in the Cudgewa Creek, near Tintaldra in the Upper Murray, following the devastating 2019-20 summer bushfires.
Cudgewa Creek, which meets the Murray River about 2km downstream of Tintaldra, is known for its populations of Murray Cod, Mountain Galaxias and the national endangered Trout Cod (Maccullochella macquariens), also known locally as the Bluenose cod, over an area encompassing 825km2.
After a large section of the Cudgewa Creek catchment was devastated by bushfire in 2019-20, significant fish kills were observed across the entire Upper Murray Catchment. A complete loss of riparian vegetation was evident along much of the creek and later rains delivered significant loads of ash and sediment into the waterways.
Read the full release here
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Cudgewa fish survey yields signs of bushfire recovery - 24 November 2020
North East Catchment Management Authority (CMA) has partnered with Victoria’s Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI) to investigate the impact of the 2019-20 bushfires on Upper Murray waterways and the fish that live in them.
Researchers undertook electro fishing in the Cudgewa Creek last week to allow fish to be counted and tagged to support studies of the impact on fish migration and breeding areas following the Upper Murray fires.
The work is part of the North East CMA’s Bushfire Recovery Program, funded by the Victorian Government’s Capital Stimulus Project: Restoring Waterways initiative.
North East CMA Senior Project Officer, Andrew Briggs, said the ARI survey team had a huge first day at Cudgewa Creek, recording three Murray cod first up at one site, each up to 48cm in length. They found another cod measuring 65cm and then two more later in the day that weighed 27kg and 34kg respectively.
Read the full story here