On the hunt for migratory fish in Tasmania’s North West

Recently, NGT Ecologists Scott and Taylar made the leap across Bass Straight to Tasmania’s North West. They were on the hunt for a nationally threatened fish, the Australian Grayling. The Cradle Coast Authority (cradlecoast.com or visit their Facebook page here) has commissioned NGT to help gain fresh insight into the current range of the Australian Grayling to inform and prioritise actions to improve conditions for this species.

We often speak about the pressures facing our native fish species of which there are many, but the major pressure restricting the success of the Australian Grayling are barriers to movement. The Australian Grayling is diadromous which means it travels between marine and freshwater environments with adults spawning in freshwater and their larvae carried downstream, usually timed with a flow event, to the sea. Juvenile fish eventually migrate back upstream again to continue the cycle. So, it’s pretty easy to see how a barrier within the water channel would upset the natural life cycle of these fish. The Australian Grayling is not alone however, with many other species similarly affected including lamprey, eels and galaxiids.

It was encouraging to locate rivers with Grayling and many of the other migratory species mentioned above. It was overall a very successful baseline look into Tasmania’s North West and provided important insight into the next steps for conserving the Australian Grayling.

Interesting by-catch from the project also included the largest freshwater crayfish species in the world – which was pretty exciting. Check out the photos below:

This project is jointly funded by:
the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust and Cradle Coast Authority, a member of the Regional Delivery Partners panel.