Reconnecting fish habitats

Fish need to travel along waterways to breed, feed and thrive. Some fish even need to move between freshwater and saltwater to breed.

Barriers in waterways (such as weirs, roads and floodgates) act as roadblocks to fish moving along waterways.

The Reconnecting fish habitat project is working to find solutions to help fish move around these barriers.

This includes working with barrier owners (such as local councils) to either remove the barriers or construct fishways (also known as fish ladders).

Actions from the project include removing an obsolete weir on Richmond River near Casino, monitoring fish movement at Kyogle Weir Fishway and improving fish passage on the Brunswick River.

“Adding a fishway to a weir is a win for the ecology of the river and for fishers upstream, as native fish can return to areas where they have been previously blocked from since the weir’s construction.”   Scott Nichols (DPI – Fisheries)

Find out more about barriers to fish passage and ways to assist fish to move around them on the DPI website.

If you are interested in installing fishways, contact Scott Nichols for further advice at scott.nichols@dpi.nsw.gov.au.

Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries

To implement this project, we are working with local councils, the Recreational Fishing Saltwater Trust Fund (DPI – Fisheries), industry, other government agencies and communities.

• Barriers to fish passage
• Weir remediation
• Fishways