Fish Monitoring Across Regional Catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Region 2015–17
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Fish monitoring across regional catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region 2015–17 David W. Schmarr, Rupert Mathwin and David L.M. Cheshire SARDI Publication No. F2018/000217-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 990 SARDI Aquatics Sciences PO Box 120 Henley Beach SA 5022 August 2018 Schmarr, D. et al. (2018) Fish monitoring across regional catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region 2015–17 Fish monitoring across regional catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region 2015–17 Project David W. Schmarr, Rupert Mathwin and David L.M. Cheshire SARDI Publication No. F2018/000217-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 990 August 2018 II Schmarr, D. et al. (2018) Fish monitoring across regional catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region 2015–17 This publication may be cited as: Schmarr, D.W., Mathwin, R. and Cheshire, D.L.M. (2018). Fish monitoring across regional catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region 2015-17. South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), Adelaide. SARDI Publication No. F2018/000217- 1. SARDI Research Report Series No. 990. 102pp. South Australian Research and Development Institute SARDI Aquatic Sciences 2 Hamra Avenue West Beach SA 5024 Telephone: (08) 8207 5400 Facsimile: (08) 8207 5415 http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/research DISCLAIMER The authors warrant that they have taken all reasonable care in producing this report. The report has been through the SARDI internal review process, and has been formally approved for release by the Research Chief, Aquatic Sciences. Although all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure quality, SARDI does not warrant that the information in this report is free from errors or omissions. SARDI and its employees do not warrant or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use, of the information contained herein as regards to its correctness, accuracy, reliability and currency or otherwise. 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SARDI Publication No. F2018/000217-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 990 Author(s): David W. Schmarr, Rupert Mathwin and David L.M. Cheshire Reviewer(s): George Giatas (SARDI) and Kristian Peters (DEW) Approved by: Assoc Prof. Qifeng Ye Science Leader – Inland Waters & Catchment Ecology Signed: Date: 13 August 2018 Distribution: AMLRNRMB, DEW, SAASC Library, Parliamentary Library, State Library and National Library Circulation: Public Domain III Schmarr, D. et al. (2018) Fish monitoring across regional catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region 2015–17 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... V LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... VI ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................ VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... VIII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 3 1.1. Background.................................................................................................................. 3 1.2. Objectives .................................................................................................................... 5 2. METHODS .......................................................................................................................... 7 2.1. Study site selection ...................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Water quality measurements ......................................................................................10 2.3. Fish sampling methodology ........................................................................................10 3. RESULTS ..........................................................................................................................13 3.1. General results ...........................................................................................................13 3.2. Site Health Assessment ..............................................................................................19 4. DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................28 4.1. WMLR Fish condition ..................................................................................................28 4.2. Myponga, Bungala, Inman, and Hindmarsh Estuaries .................................................38 4.3. Summary of WMLR fish condition and estuary studies ...............................................43 4.4. Recommendations ......................................................................................................46 5. REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................48 6. APPENDIX A .....................................................................................................................51 7. APPENDIX B .....................................................................................................................57 8. APPENDIX C .....................................................................................................................59 9. APPENDIX D .....................................................................................................................64 IV Schmarr, D. et al. (2018) Fish monitoring across regional catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region 2015–17 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of fish monitoring sites (in yellow) surveyed across the WMLR between 2015 and 2017. Sites marked blue are estuary monitoring sites. ........................................................ 8 Figure 2. Location of fish monitoring sites on Fleurieu Peninsula (in yellow) surveyed between 2015 and 2017. Sites surveyed for the estuarine health study indicated in boxes. Sites marked blue are estuary monitoring sites................................................................................................ 9 Figure 3. Scatter plot comparing BCG and FHI scores at each site and date. R2 = 0.7489. .......23 Figure 4. Composite map showing the distribution of BCG scores across the WMLR in each sampling season from autumn 2015 to spring 2017. .................................................................24 Figure 5. Composite map showing the distribution of FHI scores across the WMLR in each sampling season from autumn 2015 to spring 2017. .................................................................25 Figure 6. Composite map showing the distribution of BCG scores at Estuary sites in each sampling season from autumn 2015 to spring 2017. Myponga not sampled in spring 2017. .....26 Figure 7. Composite map showing the distribution of FHI scores at Estuary sites in each sampling season from autumn 2015 to spring 2017. Myponga not sampled in spring 2017. ....................27 Figure 8. Flow rate in ML/day at Yaldara Gauge (A5050502) on North Para River. Heavy rainfall in the middle and end of September 2016 caused widespread flooding in the MLR. .................31 Figure 9. Landslide and damage to First Creek stream as a result of flooding in spring 2016. ..32 Figure 10. Comparison of riparian and pool habitat at Myponga Pumphouse before (left) and after (right) the spring 2016 flood. .....................................................................................................39 Figure 11. Weir on Inman River blocking passage between estuary and freshwater sites. ........42 V Schmarr, D. et al. (2018) Fish monitoring across regional catchments of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region 2015–17 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Number of fish monitoring sites surveyed per season across the WMLR between 2015 and 2017. ..................................................................................................................................13 Table 2. Total catch of native (green) and invasive (red) fish species at sites in the WMLR fish condition study. This includes native diversity score (see section 2.3.2). ..................................14 Table 3. Total catch of native (green) and invasive (red) fish species at estuarine health study sites