Merran Creek Fish Rescue.
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Peter Mclean with a couple of small cod rescued from the near dry pools along the Merran Creek.
Seventy seven Murray cod – some up to 1.2 metres long – as well as golden and
silver perch have so far been rescued from Merran Creek near Swan Hill as water
levels drop due to the ongoing drought, NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI)
fisheries manager Les Rava said today.
“DPI fisheries officers working with local property owners used electro fishing units,
scoop nets and a small drag net to remove the fish, which were transported in a salt
solution for immediate release at Stoney Crossing on the Wakool River,” said Mr
Rava, who manages the NSW DPI Narrandera Fisheries Centre.
“This was a difficult operation due to the steepness of the creek banks and the
numbers of fish that needed to be captured and removed,” he said.
The 77 Murray cod ranged in size from 25cm to 120cm. Eight golden perch ranging
from 15cm to 40 cm and six silver perch 15cm to 30cm long have also been
relocated.
Mr Rava said local property owners notified NSW DPI that the fish could be in
danger.
“In response, fisheries officers have inspected numerous water holes along 15kms of
Merran Creek with a number of the property owners,” he said.
“The depth of the holes ranged from 2.5m to 50cm and the water in general was very
clear and was not showing any signs of turning toxic.
“The property owners had already relocated a number of fish to some of the larger
holes.”
Mr Rava said it appeared that only four of the waterholes had live fish in them,
however, this needed to be confirmed by fisheries technicians using the backpack
electro-fishing gear.
Following the elecro-fishing inspection, more than 90 fish have been removed and
relocated in the past fortnight.
Funding to help remove the fish came from a grant from Murray Darling Basin
Authority.
