FFSAQ News November 2019 Media Officer - Lloyd Willmann [email protected] Ph
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FFSAQ News November 2019 Media Officer - Lloyd Willmann [email protected] Ph. 0429 614 892 From the Media Officer's Desk :- FFSAQ - Charlie Ladd With the report on the National Carp Control Plan (NCCP) due to be handed to the Commonwealth Government in December 2019 by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), the FRDC are now releasing issues papers: one, two, three, four, five and six and four reports are now available for your review and comment. Issues Paper 1 - Why and how did the national Carp Control Plan originate? Issues Paper 2 - Epidemiology and virus release strategy. Issues Paper 3 - Non-target species susceptibility and host-switching risk in carp biocontrol. Issues Paper 4 - Water quality and carp biocontrol using Cyprinid herpes virus 3 (CyHV-3). Issues Paper 5 - Managing water quality impacts by carcass management/clean up. Issues Paper 6 - Understanding Potential Social and Economic Impacts of Carp Control. Report: Ecological Outcomes of Major Carp Population Reductions. Report: Carp Control via Commercial Exploitation. Report: Synergistic genetic biocontrol options for common carp. Report: Water quality risk assessment of carp biocontrol for Australian waterways Please login to register at https://yoursay.carp.gov.au/login to access these papers. Note: The NCCP "have your say" website will close on December 12. All comments will be provided to the Australian Government as part of their assessment of the next steps for the NCCP. Remaining NCCP research projects will be published on the NCCP website (https://www.carp.gov.au/) during December. Another month with no substantial rain across most the state and with a number of dams reaching critical levels and some townships now on water restrictions, also a number of rivers and creeks are in a poor condition as well. Some clubs may find themselves in a situation where the native fish stocks in their waterways are under threat due to low or poor quality water. If your club is considering a fish recovery project please contact DAF to discuss options and obtain a Fisheries permit to conduct the recovery. For those of you who love Facebook, we recommend you check out FFSAQ’s Facebook site: www.facebook.com/ffsaq/ Please visit the FFSAQ website, www.ffsaq.com.au first press F5 on your keypad to update to the new version on your computer. We invite any feedback, good or bad you have on the website. There have been a number of renewal membership forms coming in from clubs and individuals to renew their FFSAQ memberships but most important of all is the updating of your club’s contact details. “FFSAQ maintains a contact data base of most Queensland freshwater fishing and stocking clubs that gives us and Queensland Fisheries (DAF) the ability to disseminate information out to the fishing club network. To keep this data base up to date we need your help, if you have had some changes in your club’s contact details lately, can you please advise the Treasure by completing a membership form with the new details or just email the information to [email protected] so we can update your information on our system. It is very important that we have your current contact details as there is a lot of information that DAF and others send to us to forward on to our network. So help us to be able to help you.” The FFSAQ native & pest fish display has a rather quite month planned for December; we will be attending one event: Kingaroy Sportfishing Club Free Open Day - Bjelke-Peterson Dam - Saturday 7th. Hope to catch-up with some of you at the above event, please come and introduce yourself and have a look at the display. As mentioned in previous newsletters, 2020 is not that far away and if your club has an event planned for next year and the FFSAQ native & pest fish display will be helpful to your club’s messaging, please email the Treasurer at [email protected] or mobile 0490 661 445 with the event details and if the display is available we will endeavour to be there. We already have 19 event bookings for 2020 so get in quick so we can assist at your event if we can. Charlie Ladd President/Treasurer FFSAQ Mob. 0490 661 445 Dept of Agriculture & Fisheries Milestone reached for Cressbrook Dam fish habitat project (12th Nov 2019) A major milestone has been reached in a project to create habitat to attract fish and improve recreational fishing in Toowoomba’s Cressbrook Dam. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said more than half of the 700 fish attracting structures planned for Cressbrook Dam had been deployed. “A total of 200 fish attractors were deployed in Cressbrook Dam today with an additional 30 to be installed by the end of November to complement the 274 structures already in the dam,” Mr Furner said. “These additional attractors will bring to 504 the total number of structures placed in the dam since the first installations in September 2018. “The different type of attractors, including PVC trees, spiders, brush bundles and georgian cubes, play different roles in the type of fish they attract and work in combination to provide a realistic habitat for a variety of fish. “Anglers are getting a real benefit from the attractors, and sounder equipment located around the installed attractors have recorded plenty of fish marks. “Signage installed at Cressbrook Dam informs anglers where to fish and is updated regularly to reflect new installations.” Mr Furner said an Australian-first design for fish attractors was among the structures being installed in Cressbrook Dam. “Suspended fish attractors are purpose designed to provide fish with year round shelter regardless of the dam water level or variations in the water’s temperature and oxygen levels,” Mr Furner said. “Although the concept of using floating structures to provide shelter is not new, the use in freshwater dams of suspended fish attracting structures constructed from synthetic materials is a first for Australia. “The innovative design and construction of the suspended fish attractors will mimic large branching tree trunks which attract some species of fish. “Marked by distinctive orange floats, the suspended fish attracting structures are designed to sit at a fixed depth below the surface, typically between 2 and 5 metres, regardless of the dam water level.” Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio said the project is a win for our region and provides a real opportunity to improve the fish habitat of Lake Cressbrook. “This Australian-first project could benefit local anglers and provide extra incentive for visitors to travel to our region, stay in our towns and enjoy some recreational fishing,” Mayor Antonio said. “This Habitat Enhancement Research Project is a wonderful collaboration between the Queensland Government, Toowoomba Regional Council, the Australian Government’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and local angling and fish stocking groups. “We can’t wait to see more people visiting our region and enjoying the recreation of our dams and open spaces. “The study has hit the halfway point and the next step will be to promote our dams and encourage anglers come to our region and hopefully go home with fewer stories about the one that got away.” Mr Furner said the fish attractors were part of a $950,000 program to improve recreational angling and regional tourism. “The Habitat Enhancement Research Program is a series of three projects funded by contributions from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Australian Government’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, local councils and local angling and fish stocking groups,” Mr Furner said. “Data from sonar surveys, twice yearly electrofishing surveys, targeted angling and monthly creel surveys will help improve knowledge of which structures are working best and this knowledge will be applied to further improve recreational angling and tourism in areas where fish attractors have been installed. “Fish attracting structures have also been installed in Mount Morgan Dam No 7 near Rockhampton and Mackay’s Kinchant Dam which, like Cressbrook Dam, is part of Queensland’s Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme (SIPS). “Recreational anglers wishing to fish in Queensland’s 63 stocked impoundments require a SIPS permit to fish with a line.” PVC trees ready for deployment Suspended PVC trees Georgian cubes Images: Thanks to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Articles for FFSAQ News Stocking Groups .... if you have an event coming up or have an article that may be of interest to other stocking groups, please send to me with a couple of photos and I will publish in FFSAQ News. Always looking for content. Send to ..... [email protected] Thanks to all those who have helped me out in the past. ********** QUEENSLAND Boating and Fisheries Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall recently visited Patrol has launched an investigation after Menindee and the Lower Darling River where the latest efforts were focused. scores of native wildlife including turtles, “The relocation operations have been hugely successful in fish and even an eagle were found dead in relocating over 1,100 native fish including Murray Cod, illegal fishing nets in the Logan River. Golden Perch and Silver Perch,” Mr Marshall said. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and “This is a great result but I am also aware there is a long Fisheries Mark Furner said the four nets were discovered summer ahead and unfortunately our teams will not be by the QBFP in the river at Jimboomba. “As many as able to remove every fish from every pool along the river 120 turtles, a water dragon, freshwater bullrouts and system. Australian bass were found dead in these nets,” he said.