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Edition #82 - April 2024
Photo: Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
Scientists study how underwater soundscapes could help the Reef
The project, led by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is investigating whether playing the grunts, hoots, clicks and pops of fish and invertebrates at degraded reefs will attract baby fish and help turn them into thriving coral reefs again.
Only 5% of Tasmania's Giant Kelp remains, but AI is here to help
Only 5% of giant kelp forests remain in lutruwita/Tasmania, as this integral part of the Great Southern Reef suffers from rising sea temperatures. A project led by the Great Southern Reef Foundation is shining a light on Tasmania's kelp forests, showcasing the diverse fish and marine species they support, many of which are endemic to the Great Southern Reef.
Photo: ABC/NSW DPI
Conservationists save endangered olive perchlet from mass kill in drying NSW lake
More than 300 endangered olive perchlet have been rescued from a drying lake and transferred to a nearby landholder's dam in the back of a ute. Conservationists are hopeful the discovery of the previously unknown population will increase breeding of the species.
Photo: Hakai Magazine/Antonio Martín/Alamy Stock Photo
Seagrass can stash away dangerous heavy metals
For more than a century, the smelter in Port Pirie, Australia, has been contaminating the upper Spencer Gulf with heavy metal pollution. But in Australia’s largest estuary, humble seagrass, a key component of many fisheries, is the thin green line between safety and heavy-metal contamination.
Inspiring action on the Great Barrier Reef
There's enormous power to use citizen science and the community to make a change. In this episode of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation's Frontline, they take you behind the scenes revealing what's uniting these people across the Reef in this race against time. Scientists are utilising new technology, known as environmental DNA or eDNA, to identify the different fish species in a waterway, to inform future projects that will support sustainable fish populations well into the future.
Photo: Lower Mountains Local News/ NSW Fisheries
The plight of a mysterious, rare Blue Mountains fish
The Blue Mountains Perch, a potential new species closely related to the endangered Macquarie Perch, is in need of awareness and support with populations of the freshwater fish hit hard by drought, fire and flooding over the past few years. A NSW Fisheries study, while sobering reading, is helping experts develop a plan to save the fish.
Photo: DWER
Underwater grass meadows are being revitalised in one of the South West’s most iconic estuaries
In the depths of the Leschenault estuary, swaying in the gentle current, vast gardens of grasses cover the floor playing a vital role in the health of the estuary. Thanks to a new community project by the Leschenault Catchment Council and OzFish Unlimited, these hidden pastures are being revitalised across the waterway.
Photo: Brian Choo/The Conversation
A 380-million-year old predatory fish from Central Australia is finally named after decades of digging
More than 380 million years ago, a sleek, air-breathing predatory fish patrolled the rivers of central Australia. Today, the sediments of those rivers are found in outcrops of red sandstone in the remote outback.
Photo: Phys.org
Predatory fish use rapid color changes to coordinate attacks
Striped marlin are some of the fastest animals on the planet and one of the ocean's top predators. When hunting in groups, individual marlin will take turns attacking schools of prey fish one at a time. Now a new study reported in the journal Current Biology helps to explain how they might coordinate this turn-taking style of attack on their prey to avoid injuring each other.
Photo: Oceanographic Magazine
Planting efforts restoring the seagrass meadows of the Thames
An ambitious project to restore seagrass meadows by planting seagrass seeds has been launched by conservationists in Kent working to rebuild the Thames Estuary ecosystem. Research suggests at least 44% of seagrass has been lost from the UK coastline since 1936, with the marine life it supports also now under serious threat.
Photo: The Guardian
One of world’s smallest fish found to make sound as loud as a gunshot
One of the world’s smallest fish, measuring about the width of an adult human fingernail, can make a sound as loud as a gunshot, scientists have said. The male Danionella cerebrum, a fish of about 12mm found in the streams of Myanmar, produces sounds that exceed 140 decibels, according to the study published in the PNAS journal, equal to an ambulance siren or jackhammer.
Photo: The Guardian
‘Poisoned by chemicals’: citizen scientists prove River Avon is polluted
A citizen science program has revealed the decline of one of the country’s most significant chalk streams after claims by Environment Agency officials that it had not deteriorated. Surveys show freshwater invertebrates, reported “strong declines in relation to chemical pressure”.
Photo Arab News
Red Sea Global embarks on seagrass conservation efforts
In line with the global movement to protect seagrasses, Red Sea Global has recently launched the first ever seagrass transplantation initiative in the Red Sea, with a special program dedicated to rescuing and restoring seagrass meadows at The Red Sea destination and AMAALA.
Drone views show completed Fish Pass at Colwick – the UK’s largest
The fish pass at Colwick (Holme Sluices) is now complete, these images and video shot from a drone on 16 March 2024 show the completed facility on the River Trent. These barriers affect the natural migration of fish as they try to reach spawning habitat upstream into the Midlands.
Photo: Spectrum News 1/Sabriel Metcalf
Restoring fish habitats with Christmas trees
State wildlife workers are using Christmas trees to help replenish marine habitats across Kentucky. The goal is to make structures that provide sources of food and protection that can replenish the environment.
Photo: Marine Biological Association/The Fish Site
How "green gravel" can reverse the declines of British kelp
Researchers from the Marine Biological Association and Newcastle University hope the use of "green gravel" - an inventive restorative aquaculture method - may help to reverse the current decline in kelp abundance along the British coast.
Photo: Hakai Magazine/Robert F. Bukaty/AP Images
Dammed but Not Doomed
As dams come down on the Skutik River, the once-demonized alewife—a fish beloved by the Passamaquoddy—gets a second chance at life. For the Passamaquoddy, a nation of approximately 3,500 people whose territory straddles the Canada–United States border, the abundance of alewife in the Skutik River supported a way of life stretching back millennia. At one point, barriers threatened to wipe alewife out from the river altogether.
Photo Credit: Trout Unlimited/Sage Brown
A new path for the Owyhee
Tucked in the corners of Oregon, Idaho and Nevada is the Owyhee Canyonlands. Known for its rugged terrain and wild waters that host hundreds of species of fish and wildlife, the Owyhee is truly one of the West’s largest conservation opportunities. As the looming threats of development and climate change encroach on the Owyhee’s borders, local community members, ranchers, tribes, recreationists and the sporting community have sounded the alarm for permanent protection of this one-of-a-kind landscape.
The Fish Habitat Network
The Fish Habitat Network is an initiative funded by the NSW Recreational Fishing Trusts and supported by NSW Government. Our mission is to harness the skills and experience of multiple organisations to promote and support the involvement of recreational fishers in all aspects of fish habitat management. Its objectives are to share knowledge, initiatives and activities related to improving fish abundance and biodiversity through habitat management, to share knowledge and support inter-jurisdictional collaboration and to make things happen on the ground. "Habitat Makes Fish Happen" - The Fish Habitat Network has created its social media channels and a website as a way to share information about fish habitat. Here you will find information and updates, plus images and videos that promote ecological understanding of fish habitat across Australia.
Habitat Action Grants
Angling clubs, individuals, community groups, local councils and organisations interested in rehabilitating fish habitats in freshwater and saltwater areas throughout NSW can apply for grants of up to $40,000. Check it out
Fish Screens Australia
Fish Screens Australia is an information hub. It’s a collaboration between senior fisheries scientists, all types of water users, manufacturers, university researchers, engineers, anglers and conservation managers. See what it's all about
Newstreams is an email newsletter to keep people up to date about fish habitat activities and important developments in fish ecology and habitat. It is free by email subscription.
To subscribe please CLICK HERE
You can send in your habitat news by emailing newstreams@ozfish.org.au
Back issues can be found at https://www.fishhabitatnetwork.com.au/newstreams
Newstreams is supported by funds from the NSW Recreational Fishing Trusts, raised from the NSW Recreational Fishing Licence fee. Newstreams is published electronically every three months by OzFish Unlimited on behalf of the NSW Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries and on behalf of the Fish Habitat Network, a partnership of organisations working on fish habitat and a network of fishers engaged in fish habitat issues.
OzFish Unlimited, is partnering with the NSW Government and the NSW Recreational Fishing Trusts to deliver NEWSTREAMS four times a year.
