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West Gippsland CMA project improved fish habitat, fishing facilities, and river health on the lower Avon River

West Gippsland CMA's project on the lower Avon River enhanced fish habitat and facilities, benefiting both fish populations and recreational users. This effort is part of the broader Love Our Lakes initiative.

By news@gippsland - 20th August 2024 - Back to News

West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (CMA) has completed a project on the lower Avon River on Gunaikurnai Country to understand resident fish populations, create more habitat for them to thrive and improve facilities for fishers and river users.  The project included fish surveys, adding woody habitat into the river, repairing fishing platforms and planting native trees and is part of the Love Our Lakes program of works made up of 48 projects, being delivered by 22 partners to protect and enhance the health of the Gippsland Lakes.

The lower Avon River project benefits both fish and anglers, with improved fishing platforms. Success was measured through comprehensive fish surveys, including electrofishing

Enhancing river habitat

Martin Fuller, CEO of West Gippsland CMA said, "The lower Avon River is becoming increasingly popular with recreational fishers. However, it was lacking woody habitat to support good healthy populations of fish, so we saw an opportunity to create additional instream habitat that will ultimately lead to better conditions for native fish to thrive."

"This project not only benefits fish and the Gippsland Lakes environment - fishers and recreational users are winners as well with improvements to existing fishing platforms that are well utilised by anglers," Martin said.

To be able to measure the success of the project, West Gippsland CMA started by engaging researchers to undertake fish surveys using various methods including electro fishing. The surveys recorded Estuary Perch, Australian Bass, Bully Mullet and Flathead Gudgeon.

Restoring aquatic habitats

Next, hardwood logs were installed and pinned by vertical piles that were strategically designed to maximise habitat area and mimic the complexity and form of natural river snags. Not just any logs, the timber was sourced from large trees that had fallen during extreme wind and flood events, and collected by Emergency Recovery Victoria. "This is a great example of how two government organisations can work in partnership for good environmental outcomes," said Martin.

Once the habitat was installed, the team turned their attention to repairing the fishing platforms and native trees provided the finishing touches to the site.  A second fish survey was conducted after the instream structural habitat was installed which showed the fish using their new habitat for feeding and shelter.

Enhancing estuary habitat

Elsa Burnell, Project Delivery Coordinator for West Gippsland CMA, who oversaw the project said, "Projects in this western most area of the Gippsland Lakes are aimed to improve Lake Wellington and its fringing wetlands. The estuary is a beautiful interface between the Gippsland Lakes and the river systems. These unique inland estuaries can be very fresh in wet years and almost as salty as seawater in dry times. The animals and plants that live there are incredibly resilient - and these works support them to thrive. "

"These works will enhance not only the habitat values of the system but support recreational use and enjoyment of the area. Every time you go down there you see people camping, fishing and kayaking and connecting with the Lakes and rivers of this special place," she said.

This project is part of a $248 million investment by the Victorian Government to improve the health of waterways and catchments. Of this, $7.5 million is being provided to improve the health of Gippsland Lakes over three years (2021-2024), through delivery of on-ground works and community engagement which is overseen by the Gippsland Lakes Coordinating Committee.

Pictures from West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com