The Tri-State Murray NRM Regional Alliance is developing a proposal to recover six threatened floodplain specialist fish species in the Murray Corridor. As part of the proposal development process, a forum was held in Bendigo to bring together experts and waterway practitioners to share the latest information and management approaches being used to address the plight of the Murray hardyhead, Olive perchlet, Flat-headed galaxias, Yarra pygmy perch, Southern purple spotted gudgeon and Southern pygmy perch. The forum ran over two days, with the first day covering the status of each of the fish species, as well as some of the ways in which different groups are attempting to support the revival of these fish in different parts of the Murray Corridor. The second day used a workshop format to get the views of forum participants on the priorities needing to be addressed in the proposal document.
Introduction
A welcome to country was provided by Rhianna Kerr from the Dja Dja Warrung people, in which she encouraged forum participants to explore Bendigo, and value the region’s social, cultural and environmental heritage. Rhianna was followed by an address from Gamilaroi man, and World Fish Migration Day Ambassador Phil Duncan, who appealed to forum participants to combine Aboriginal and Western knowledge, work together, and build on the strengths of the past, in order to bring back the ‘Magnificent Six’. Brad Drust, Chief Executive Office of the North Central Catchment Management Authority then spoke about the purpose of the Tri-state Alliance and how the forum will underpin the ongoing development of this important initiative. Brad also announced the launch of a new video produced through the Tri-State Alliance to raise awareness about ‘The Magnificent Six’.
What is the Tri State Alliance?
We want fish numbers to grow and species to extend their range and be resilient to disturbance events. We need to strategically protect and connect the existing high-quality habitats by securing agreement to the management and use of these habitats across the Murray River corridor. The Tri-State Alliance spans Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, with government and non government organisations coming together to work at scales relevant to the fish needing recovery. Together, we believe we can save native fish in the Murray Corridor and we are looking for partners, rather than jurisdictions operating in isolation. By working together we can enable knowledge sharing, adaptive management, and capitalise on our combined skills, resources and research between Tri-State and partner organisations.
To find out more please download the prospectus, or contact the Tri-State Alliance Executive Officer on 0419 130 719.
Session One: Status and Research
This session covered the status of each of the six fish species in the Murray Corridor, including recent research, knowledge gaps and some genetics work on Southern purple spotted gudgeon and Olive perchlet. An analysis of these six species has been prepared by Whiterod etal entitled ‘The present status of key small-bodied threatened freshwater fishes in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, 2019’, which is provided here as a free download.
In the interests of sharing forum proceedings widely, each of the presentations has been developed into a Finterest with a summary of key points, photos and references for further information provided.
