Background and Implementation Information for the National Recovery Plan for the Murray Cod (Maccullochella Peelii Peelii)

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Background and Implementation Information for the National Recovery Plan for the Murray Cod (Maccullochella Peelii Peelii) Background and Implementation Information for the National Recovery Plan for the Murray Cod Maccullochella peelii peelii National Murray Cod Recovery Team Written and compiled by John Koehn and Pam Clunie, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria. Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) Melbourne, October 2010 © State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2010 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne. ISBN 978-1-74208-677-4 This is a Background and Implementation Information document associated with a Recovery Plan prepared under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian Government. This Recovery Plan has been developed with the involvement and cooperation of a range of stakeholders, but individual stakeholders have not necessarily committed to undertaking specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved. Proposed actions may be subject to modification over the life of the plan due to changes in knowledge. Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence that may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. An electronic version of this document is available on the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities website: www.environment.gov.au For more information contact the DSE Customer Service Centre 136 186 Citation: National Murray Cod Recovery Team 2010. Background and Implementation Information for the National Recovery Plan for the Murray Cod Maccullochella peelii peelii. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne. Cover photograph: Murray Cod by Günther Schmida National Murray Cod Recovery Team Membership: John Koehn DSE, Vic Qifeng Ye SARDI, SA Peter Kind DPI&F, Qld Mark Lintermans MDBC, ACT John Pursey DPI, NSW 2 Table of Contents BACKGROUND INFORMATION..........................................................................................................5 DEVELOPMENT OF RECOVERY PLAN ........................................................................................................ 5 SPECIES INFORMATION ............................................................................................................................. 5 Ecological Significance ....................................................................................................................... 5 Taxonomic Comments.......................................................................................................................... 6 Legal Status and Conservation Status ................................................................................................. 6 Description .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Distribution.......................................................................................................................................... 7 Habitat ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Biology and Ecology............................................................................................................................ 9 DECLINE AND THREATS.......................................................................................................................... 11 Flow Regulation................................................................................................................................. 13 Habitat degradation........................................................................................................................... 14 Lowered Water Quality...................................................................................................................... 14 Barriers.............................................................................................................................................. 16 Alien Species...................................................................................................................................... 16 Exploitation........................................................................................................................................ 17 Stocking and Translocations.............................................................................................................. 19 Genetic Issues .................................................................................................................................... 20 Diseases ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Climate Change ................................................................................................................................. 20 MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ..................................................................................................................... 21 SOCIAL ISSUES AND IMPACTS ................................................................................................................. 22 ECONOMIC ISSUES AND IMPACTS............................................................................................................ 26 IMPLEMENTATION INFORMATION............................................................................................... 27 STRATEGY FOR RECOVERY..................................................................................................................... 27 SETTING A TARGET................................................................................................................................. 28 PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION .................................................................................... 29 PROGRAM MONITORING AND EVALUATION ........................................................................................... 30 ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT ...................................................................................................................... 30 RECOVERY OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................................... 31 RECOVERY ACTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 31 COSTS OF THE RECOVERY PLAN ............................................................................................................. 60 BIODIVERSITY BENEFITS ........................................................................................................................ 61 EXISTING CONSERVATION MEASURES.................................................................................................... 62 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................................................................................................... 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND READING LIST ............................................................................................ 64 APPENDIX 1: MURRAY COD WORKSHOP RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................ 74 APPENDIX 2: OBJECTIVES OF THE MDBC NATIVE FISH STRATEGY................................. 79 APPENDIX 3: MURRAY COD TASKFORCE – TERMS OF REFERENCE AND MEMBERSHIP ................................................................................................................................... 81 APPENDIX 4A: SUMMARY OF RECOVERY ACTIONS BY PRIORITY.................................... 83 APPENDIX 4B: SUMMARY OF RECOVERY ACTIONS BY EASE OF IMPLEMENTATION 87 APPENDIX 4C: SUMMARY OF RECOVERY ACTIONS BY TIMEFRAME .............................. 91 APPENDIX 5: LEGISLATION............................................................................................................. 96 APPENDIX 6: REGISTER OF CRITICAL HABITAT (EPBC ACT).............................................. 97 APPENDIX 7. ORGANISATIONS WITH AN INTEREST IN MURRAY COD CONSERVATION ................................................................................................................................... 98 Figure 1. Distribution of the Murray Cod ..................................................................................... 8 Figure 2. Jurisdictional boundaries, Important Populations and Spatial Management Units.... 29 3 ‘The ecological significance of the Murray Cod on the Murray-Darling system can be argued to be more complex and profound than that for any single terrestrial animal, except humans’. Robert Kearney and Melissa Kildea (2001) 4 Background Information Development of Recovery Plan This Recovery Plan has been developed through a series of steps which followed the species’ listing under the EPBC Act in 2003. A workshop to address the management of Murray Cod within the MDB was held in Canberra in June 2004 and attended
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