Ecowise, on behalf of the Northern Gulf Resource Management Group (NGRMG), have just completed a survey of freshwater fish and aquatic bugs in the Staaten River Catchment.

Alf Hogan (fish ecologist), Terry Vallance (aquatic ecologist) and Adrian Dickson (environmental scientist) battled the bush to reach unexplored water holes and lagoons in the catchment area.

Using a technique known as ‘electro fishing’, they zapped the water around the boat with a 1000 volt charge that stuns the fish so they float to the top of the water. They can then be identified, measured and returned to the water to swim away unharmed.

The survey found:

• 46 species of fish including the largest ever recorded for one particular species
• water quality in the catchment was excellent
• species that have never been recorded before in the catchment unseasonable rainfall in July caused unseasonable spawning in a number of species
• the lowest incidence of weeds observed by the team in any gulf catchment despite over 100 years of cattle grazing in the area.

Stakeholders contributed greatly to the scientific team with their local knowledge and showed tremendous interest in the results.

The commercial and recreational fi shers in the region will appreciate the catchment has been maintained in such excellent condition because there is such a wide diversity and abundance of fish and prawns in the catchment.