Red Orbit
11 June, 2013
A significant decline in the numbers of native fish in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin may be linked to released dam water being too cold for breeding.
This is just one of the findings from a Griffith University led study which found current water releases back into the Murray-Darling system limit fish reproduction and therefore impact freshwater biodiversity.
Griffith University Research Fellow Dr Rob Rolls said the results, published in Freshwater Biology, throw cold water on the notion that large dam releases compensate for the effects of interrupting natural water flows. And it’s not just seasonal flooding which is important; the natural low flow periods matter too.
“Golden perch an iconic species that significant value for recreational fishing and it is often assumed that large floods are necessary to initiate spawning and recruitment of golden perch and many other fish,” Dr Rolls said.