ENDANGERED native freshwater catfish (Tandanus tandanus) populations have expanded through the release of over 10,000 catfish into 19 locations across northern Victoria.
The initiative was a collaboration between recreational fishers, Traditional Owner groups and fisheries and catchment management authorities (CMA’s) to help recover catfish by re-establishing more populations of the species.
In late March, thousands of catfish were salvaged from Lake Lascelles near Hopetoun, Cronomby Tanks at Woomelang and and private dam near Lancefield where they had incredible breeding events.
Geneticist Dr Peter Unmack assessed the genetics of the catfish, showing that the they originated from the Wimmera, Mallee, Gunbower strain and were suitable for release – perfect!
Catfish were released into:
- Ovens River (4 sites) – 2,686
- Campaspe River – 1035
- Loddon River – 895
- Broken Creek Upper – 895
- Lake Sambell (Beechworth) – 834
- Goulburn River – 828
- Broken Creek Lower – 784
- Loch Garry – 544
- Horseshoe Lagoon (Gunbower) – 544
- Lake Victoria (Maryborough) – 504
- Gunbower Creek – 480
- Winton Wetlands – 315
- Wooroonook Lake – 305
- Arcadia Pondage – 273
- Walkers Lake (St Arnaud) – 284
- Arcadia Pondage – 273
- Foletti Lake (Donald) – 206
- Watchem Lake – 200
- Turner/Phyland Lagoon – 181
- Dunyak Moira – 171
- Harcourt Park Dam – 165
- Sandilong Creek – 18
To re-establish 22 populations of an endangered native fish is a huge step towards recovery and downlisting of the species.
