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Translocation of River Blackfish – Tarwin River Pilot Study J Translocation of River Blackfish – Tarwin River pilot study J. O’Connor, F. Amtstaetter, R. Ayres, W. Koster and M. Bowler August 2016 Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Unpublished Client Report for West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority Translocation of River Blackfish– Tarwin River pilot study J. O’Connor 1, F. Amtstaetter 1, R. Ayres 1, W. Koster 1 and M. Bowler 2 1 Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research 123 Brown Street, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084 2 West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, Corner Young and Bair Streets, Leongatha, Victoria 3953 Australia August 2016 Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Heidelberg, Victoria Report produced by: Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning PO Box 137 Heidelberg, Victoria 3084 Phone (03) 9450 8600 Website: www.delwp.vic.gov.au Citation: O’Connor, J., Amtstaetter, F., Ayres, R. Koster, W. and Bowler, M. (2016). Translocation of River Blackfish – Tarwin River pilot study. Unpublished Client Report for West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria. Front cover photo: River Blackfish with acoustic tag implanted (Renae Ayres) . © The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning 2016 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. You are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria as author. The licence does not apply to any images, photographs or branding, including the Victorian Coat of Arms, the Victorian Government logo, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning logo and the Arthur Rylah Institute logo. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en Accessibility If you would like to receive this publication in an alternative format, please telephone the DELWP Customer Service Centre on 136 186, email [email protected] or contact us via the National Relay Service on 133 677 or www.relayservice.com.au . This document is also available on the internet at www.delwp.vic.gov.au 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 which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. River Blackfish translocation Contents Acknowledgements 2 Summary 3 1 Introduction 4 2 Methods 6 2.1 Study site 6 2.2 Fish sampling 7 2.3 Fish tagging 8 2.4 Translocation 9 2.5 Movement 9 2.6 Habitat 9 2.7 Recruitment 10 2.8 Genetics 10 3 Results 11 3.1 Fish sampling 11 3.2 Translocation 11 3.3 Movement 11 3.5 Habitat 13 3.6 Recruitment 17 3.7 Genetics 17 4 Discussion 18 5 Recommendations 19 References 20 6 Appendices 22 1 River Blackfish translocation Tables Table 1 Potential source sites and their location .............................................................................................. 8 Table 2 Fish collected from potential source sites .......................................................................................... 11 Table 3 Summarised movement of acoustically tagged River Blackfish ......................................................... 12 Table 4 Water quality parameters and azolla condition at translocation sites during March 2016 ............... 12 Table 5 The abundance of and complexities at source and translocation sites .............................................. 15 Table 6 Summary of habitat assessment ......................................................................................................... 16 Figures Figure 1 Map of study area ................................................................................................................................ 7 Figure 2 Acoustic tag ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 3 Spawning tube arrangement ............................................................................................................. 10 Figure 4 Examples of movement (red line) associated with high rainfall (as a surrogate for stream discharge) events (arrows) ................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 5 Snag densities at the two source sites (top) and the two translocation sites (bottom) ................... 14 2 River Blackfish translocation Acknowledgements This project was funded by the Victorian Government using revenue raised from the sale of Victorian Recreational Fishing Licences. The authors would like to thank Tanya Cowell, Eleisha Keogh and Kate Williams (all WGCMA) who commissioned and managed the project. Tanya Cowell also provided regular water parameter data for the study sites. Lauren Dodd and John Mahoney (both ARI) are thanked for their assistance with fieldwork, as are Ross Drury and Ed Bickel and other members from Leongatha Angling Club who contributed to site selection. Special thanks to various private landowners who allowed us access to sites on their properties. Adrian Kitchingman analysed the snag density data and prepared maps. John Koehn and Dan Stoessel provided useful comments on an earlier version of this document. This work was conducted under Fisheries (and translocation) Permit No. RP827 and DELWP Animal Ethics Permit No. 15/19. 2 River Blackfish translocation Summary Populations of River Blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus ) have declined in range and abundance throughout catchments in south-east Australia, including in the Tarwin River catchment in Victoria. The decline is despite the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (WGCMA) undertaking rehabilitation of many of the waterways over the past 25 years. Although such efforts are likely beneficial to various native fish, including River Blackfish, the likelihood of River Blackfish recolonising rehabilitated areas is considered low because the species typically does not move large distances. Translocating River Blackfish into rehabilitated areas may therefore represent an important tool to assist recolonization and support population recovery in the Tarwin River and other waterways throughout the species’ range. In this study, we collected 27 adult River Blackfish from upland areas of the Tarwin River West branch and translocated fish into rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated reaches of stream downstream, where they were historically abundant. We conducted subsequent monitoring to determine whether the translocation was successful, in particular, to determine: 1) whether the translocated River Blackfish survived; 2) whether they established new home ranges in the translocated sites, and 3) whether they reproduced during the 2015 breeding season. Translocated River Blackfish were tagged with acoustic transmitters to determine whether fish remained within translocation sites, whether fish in a non-rehabilitated area moved into a rehabilitated area, and whether fish returned to their original capture location. Artificial spawning tubes were also placed into the translocation sites to detect whether the translocated fish reproduced during the October-December 2015 breeding season. Spawning tubes were checked for eggs near the end of the breeding season. In autumn 2016 electrofishing was also undertaken in the translocation sites to detect recruitment of River Blackfish, as indicated by the collection of young of year individuals. Our findings suggest that the translocation was successful, with fish surviving and remaining within the translocated areas. Recruitment of River Blackfish however has not been detected. This result might reflect a lack of natural spawning habitat, the effect of the stress related to translocation close to the species spawning period or that recruitment did occur and it wasn’t detected at this time using the methods applied. We recommend ongoing monitoring of the translocated populations to determine the longer term survival, reproduction, increased distribution and condition of the translocated population. Through this monitoring, further information about River Blackfish habitat associations may be inferred and also whether additional habitat improvements are necessary (e.g. more instream wood, improved flow management). 3 River Blackfish translocation 1 Introduction River Blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus ) occur in rivers and streams of south-east Australia. The species has declined in range and abundance since European settlement due to factors such as stream siltation, and removal of woody debris (Drew 2008). There are two forms of River Blackfish; a southern form and a northern form. The southern form grow much larger (<600 mm) than the northern form (<300 mm). Taxonomic research suggests that River Blackfish may represent up to five candidate species (Miller et al. 2004; Hammer et al. 2014; Ryan et al. 2004). River Blackfish typically occupy clear, gently flowing streams with abundant woody debris (Koehn and O’Connor 1990). The home range of adult River Blackfish is typically 25–30 m, although fish have been recorded moving 100 m or more (Khan et al. 2004; Koster and Crook 2008).
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