Lower Darling-Baaka Recovery Reach

Category

The Menindee Main Weir is open in December 2022.

Making the Connection: Providing Temporary Fish Passage at the Menindee Lakes

By Iain Ellis February 3, 2023

Fish Movement Weirs and regulators in rivers and lakes can impede or block the movement of native fish, impacting their ability to migrate and move to suitable feeding or breeding areas. While all fish need to move around to some degree, ‘flow-specialists’ like Golden perch and Silver perch need to move along rivers as part

Microplastics in Australian freshwater fish

By Kate McKenna December 19, 2022

Microplastics are a global problem, infiltrating all levels of food systems and ecosystems. Now a multi-level governance issue, reaching across international, national and local scales, microplastics are most known for their impact on oceanic ecosystems, however, freshwater ecosystems are equally significantly impacted by plastics. Microplastics have been noticeably less researched in freshwater ecosystems compared to

Guide: Golden perch rehabilitation after a major fish kill

By Kate McKenna November 14, 2022

Like many other important native freshwater fish species within the Murray Darling Basin, Golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) were immensely impacted by the 2018-19 fish kills in the lower Darling River.  A 2021 study involving 18 researchers (by Zampatti et.al) looked into the species’ historical and current population demographics in the Darling River. The study provided guidance on how best to manage our

What happens to people when the Baaka does not flow?

By Iain Ellis May 4, 2022

In the summer of 2018-19, after two years of low flows in the lower Darling Baaka River in western New South Wales, a series of three mass fish kills occurred near Menindee, resulting in the deaths of millions of native fish. The size of the fish kills was unprecedented, with millions of native Bony herring

Improving our ability to manage fish kills – John Koehn’s lessons from the Murray Darling Basin

By Kate McKenna March 21, 2022

The dramatic events of the summer of 2018-19, where a series of three mass fish kills resulted in the deaths of millions of native fish in the lower Darling-Baaka River, captured national and global attention. Feelings of sadness and horror at the scale of the fish kills had the media and general public, who for

A stunning illustrated map of Murray cod and Golden perch journeys to explore

By Iain Ellis September 22, 2021

"Maps are a way of organising wonder" This quote by Peter Steinhart is spot on when it comes to this stunning map created by fish researcher and artist Dr Brendan Ebner. NSW DPI Fisheries asked Brendan to create this beautiful map of the Darling-Baaka River. Flowing rivers and deep pools are essential for healthy populations

Native fish are bouncing back in the Lower Darling Baaka River

By Iain Ellis September 6, 2021

Following trying times, native fish are bouncing back in the Baaka... We all remember those images from the mass fish deaths that occurred in summer 2018-2019 in the Lower Darling Baaka River along the Menindee town weir pool. To understand how this event impacted local fish communities, NSW DPI Fisheries has been monitoring the Lower