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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-11 Daily Xml
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NATIVE FISH AWARENESS WEEK

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon) (14:59): Can the Minister—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The fan club will keep quiet.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Can the Minister—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: —for Environment and Conservation, given that it is Native Fish Awareness Week, starting tomorrow, outline how our government is supporting native fish projects?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (14:59): Yes, I can, Madam Speaker. I thank the member for Croydon very much for his question. He does, in fact, like fishing very much. It is just that he doesn't catch too much when he goes, but we are working on that. The fish I am going to talk about today are those species that are not targeted, unlike those many fine species that are targeted by anglers. I thank again the member for Croydon for his question.

As most people would be aware, it is Native Fish Awareness Week. It runs from 12 November through to 21 November this year. It is an initiative of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the basin states aimed at drawing attention to the work underway throughout the basin to help restore native fish populations.

Events such as Native Fish Awareness Week play an important role in making the community aware of what is already being done to help restore native fish populations, what they can do and how they can get directly involved in native fish projects. Members might be aware—they might be more aware if they listen, but certainly members should be aware—that critical habitats and freshwater refuges for native fish in South Australia have been hit particularly hard in recent years as the drought in the Murray-Darling Basin system has continued and inflows of water into the River Murray have declined.

Five species of native freshwater fish—the Murray hardyhead, the southern pygmy perch, the Yarra pygmy perch, the river blackfish and the southern purple-spotted gudgeon—have been identified as under immediate threat and are a high priority for protection, along with other species. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Very small fish, mate—very, very small fish. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working closely with the Department of Primary Industries, SARDI, the Department for Water, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the SA Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board, Native Fish Australia SA and a range of private and community groups. I want to particularly highlight the work being undertaken by community groups on a variety of these projects to ensure that these species are not lost to the Murray-Darling Basin.

Specific projects to rescue native fish from rapidly drying habitat for captive breeding and transfer into suitable temporary freshwater refuges are currently underway. As an example, around 200 Murray hardyhead were last month released into the Causeway Lagoon in the Riverland as part of a captive breeding program managed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre in Mildura.

The native congolli is another great example of the collaborative work being undertaken to protect our native fish. A recent operation to prevent the congolli from extinction in the Lower Lakes and Coorong proved successful, with many thousands of the fish—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: That's right, exactly—swimming through the boat lock at the Goolwa Barrage to do their thing and ultimately breed. One of the major highlights for—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —Native Fish Awareness Week in South Australia is a unique educational opportunity organised by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources—the Get to Know Your River event. It will be held next Tuesday, 16 November, at the department's Wyndgate property on Hindmarsh Island. School groups and the community have been invited to spend the day with native fish experts, including a chance to paddle kayaks to see first-hand some of the area's important fish habitats.

As was mentioned by my colleague, a native fish forum will also be hosted at SARDI Aquatic Sciences at West Beach on 17 November, bringing together leading native fish experts to discuss the latest research. There will be an opportunity for recreational fishers to meet and discuss native fish issues at an information night in Berri on 18 November. I want to acknowledge my colleague the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and his department for supporting Native Fish Awareness Week events.

In another highlight for Native Fish Awareness Week, students from the Alberton Primary School—that outstanding school—will travel to the Paiwalla Wetland near Murray Bridge to help release a number of purple-spotted gudgeon they have been raising. The students established their own breeding program as part of a major conservation effort being managed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the SA Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board.

Our hope—and I am sure it is the hope also of the opposition—is that, through activities such as this, more South Australians will become involved and become aware of the plight of our native fish and the work that is being done to ensure threatened species are not lost to the Murray-Darling Basin system.

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