General News
14 March, 2023
Electrofishing draws a crowd
LOCALS took the chance to learn all about the process of electrofishing earlier this month at Curdievale.
LOCALS took the chance to learn all about the process of electrofishing earlier this month at Curdievale.
In August last year, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CMA) placed 32 Fish Hotel and Root Ball structures into the Lower Curdies River, between Curdievale and the top of the estuary at Peterborough.
The fish hotels were built from locally sourced eucalyptus and were designed to provide shelter and food for fish.
Austral Research and Consulting’s Dion Iervasi conducted electrofishing at various sites along the lower Curdies River.
From his boat, Dion put an electrical charge into the water which stunned any fish using the fish hotels as habitat.
The fish were counted, weighed and measured.
The data collected will be compared with the numbers and types of fish using the same part of the river as when the first survey was conducted in June 2021 before the fish hotels were installed.
It is hoped the survey data would show an increase in numbers and types of fish and more diversity of sizes (indicating a mix of ages).
Corangamite CMA project officer Gene Gardiner said electrofishing provides a fuller picture of what is happening in the “hotels” and how they are being used.
The session at the Curdievale boat ramp earlier this month saw about 30 people attend.
This project is supported by Corangamite CMA, through funding from the Australian Government’s Fisheries Habitat Restoration Program.