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Native Fish Strategy MURRAY-DARLING BASIN AUTHORITY Native Fish Strategy Mesoscale movements of small- and medium-sized fish in the Murray-Darling Basin MURRAY-DARLING BASIN AUTHORITY Native Fish Strategy Mesoscale movements of small- and medium-sized fish in the Murray-Darling Basin M. Hutchison, A. Butcher, J. Kirkwood, D. Mayer, K. Chilcott and S. Backhouse Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Published by Murray-Darling Basin Commission Postal Address GPO Box 409, Canberra ACT 2601 Office location Level 4, 51 Allara Street, Canberra City Australian Capital Territory Telephone (02) 6279 0100 international + 61 2 6279 0100 Facsimile (02) 6248 8053 international + 61 2 6248 8053 Email [email protected] Internet http://www.mdbc.gov.au For further information contact the Murray-Darling Basin Commission office on (02) 6279 0100 This report may be cited as: Hutchison, M, Butcher, A, Kirkwood, J, Mayer, D, Chikott, K and Backhouse, S. Mesoscale movements of small and medium-sized fish in the Murray-Darling Basin MDBC Publication No. 41/08 ISBN 978 1 921257 81 0 © Copyright Murray-Darling Basin Commission 2008 This work is copyright. Graphical and textual information in the work (with the exception of photographs and the MDBC logo) may be stored, retrieved and reproduced in whole or in part, provided the information is not sold or used for commercial benefit and is acknowledged. Such reproduction includes fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction for other purposes is prohibited without prior permission of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission or the individual photographers and artists with whom copyright applies. To the extent permitted by law, the copyright holders (including its employees and consultants) exclude all liability to any person for any consequences, including but not limited to all losses, damages, costs, expenses and any other compensation, arising directly or indirectly from using this report (in part or in whole) and any information or material contained in it. Front cover photo credits: clockwise from top - Fyke and min fyke nets in Macintyre River, Michael Hutchison (DPI&F); Murray-Darling rainbow fish with vie tag, Adam Butcher (DPI&F); Two people in a boat, Michael Hutchison (DPI&F) CONTENTS List of Figures .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................viii Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................x Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................xi 1. Background ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1 1.1 The importance of understanding movements by fish .............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Our current knowledge .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Project objectives ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................13 2. Methods ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14 2.1 Pilot phase ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14 2.1.1 Site selection ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14 2.1.2 Tag retention trials ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................15 2.1.3 Field trials ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................16 2.2 Main phase ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................18 2.2.1 Mark-recapture ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................18 2.2.2 Radiotelemetry .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................24 2.2.3 Standardised quantitative sampling ...........................................................................................................................................................................25 2.2.4 Environmental and other variables .............................................................................................................................................................................28 2.2.5 Hunting ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................29 2.2.6 Opportunistic use of drought and migration barriers to estimate minimum upstream movement distances .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................30 2.2.7 Data analysis ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................30 3. Results and discussion ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 32 3.1 Pilot phase ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................32 3.1.1 Tag retention trials ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................32 3.1.2 Field trials ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................33 3.2 Flow conditions during the study......................................................................................................................................................................................................34 3.3 Main phase ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................36 3.3.1 Carp gudgeons Hypseleotris spp. .................................................................................................................................................................................37 3.3.2 Bony bream
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