17 replies to this topic

[Den]

Hi All

Thought I'd start a fresh new thread to re-kick of this outing initiative.

Well as you may be aware now the department of fisheries have put a control program into action for dealing with feral Brasiliensis. For those that need info on this please refer to website :

http://www.fish.wa.g.../index.php?0506

Due to this new initiative I have suggested in my previous post we can offer to check the immediate area a week or two after the fisheries program has been completed to see if there has been a successful eradication, we can also check outer areas to see if the fish has spread outside of the control zone, we could then report our findings to fisheries.

What I propose is basically a fish search, wether fisheries will allow us to try and capture these fish if we find any will have to be discussed with them.

These fish from my experience become active early morning and dusk(please correct me if I am wrong). I suggest that we do a late afternoon daylight search (have dinner by the river) then follow on with an evening spot light search. I do alot of spot lighting at Safety bay and Cockburn sound I can say it is great fun finding all sorts of rarely seen noctural animals and its much easier to find, see and catch fish at night when they are asleep, who knows if there are brasiliensis there, there could also be other introduced exotic animals no one is aware of, e.g. plecos etc.

I am pretty eager to give freshwater spotlighting a try and see what sorts of new animals I will come across at night as I have never tried it in freshwater before.

Whether we find any brasiliensis or not I think it will be an iteresting evening where we may get the chance to see the native aquatic animals in the area, we could also check non control areas and get an idea of the impact this drama has had on native animals.

I ask if there are any keen people in the new proposed excursion to please register their interest here. Then we can put a simple plan togther and check it through with the fisheries dept before we go down there.

Although we will need to check with fisheries and co-ordinate visits after their control measures are completed I propose a Saturday afternoon-evening either the 1st or 8th of July may be looking O.K.

Regards
Den

[anchar]

I'm in...so is giz

Andrea

[Fish Antics]

Count me in

[Cicolid]

G'day Den..

Lyn & I would like to get involved also..

Is there any equipment we are likely to require ??
eg, nets, waders etc..

Perhaps we could finish up the event with a BBQ eh ???

Cheers
Col

[bushie]

I`m in mate,

I`m going to be flat out with work for the next few weeks but will help with organization anyway I can.

just let me know if you want anything done

BUSHIE

[Kimbo]

Ill be up for that depending on the date

[Tucunare]

gday folks
well i went there yesterday to see what i could see, and basically when i got there the news was all over it and it was all blocked off, however i did speak to one of my customers the other day and he said he pulled about 30x 10cm fish out of there on wednesday (along with two trout?), so i think from looking at the area they were blowing up yesterday give it a week and you should be able to see some more in there.
The drain is right next to Better pet and Garden on Lord St (off Benarra) but i followed it to its main body which is located in the golf corse heading west but to the east joins onto bennet brook (very hard to access through the dense overgrowth, and really not alot of water to speak of).
it may be wise to check out further east past the golf corse and see if the drain continues, just bear in mind that alot of it is under roads and under houses/buildings.
good luck, hope you find some out there

[anchar]

There was a few minutes of video footage on Landline yesterday (repeated today).

Andrea

[Dr Cucumber]

Is this thing still happening?? I'm busy on the 1st and 8th, but I will be going to next weeks meeting should anyone want to talk about things further.....

cheers,

Dr Cuc

[mtchye]

Can't remember which paper had this article now, but someone was saying that the lake (altone lake?) they were in was too big to fully eradicate them, and they were going to put up barriers to seal off the lake instead.. perhaps if you wanted to do a survey, there would be a good start.

[mtchye]

Found the article:

An intensive two-week program to rid Perth rivers of a killer feral fish using explosives and poisoning could fail, admits the Fisheries Department.

The Department has targeted waterways in Lockridge and Kiara in an attempt to wipe out the pearl cichlid which numbers in the thousands.

Authorities say that if the cichlid makes its way into the Swan River, it would be an environmental catastrophe, as it would devastate many local populations of native fish.

Local populations of seven native fish species have already been killed off by the aggressive aquarium fish in waterways between Altone Park golf course and Bennett Brook, which is a tributary creek that runs into the Swan River.

It could take several breeding seasons to repopulate these waterways even if cichlids are completely wiped out.

Fisheries officer Craig Astbury said he was hopeful that the eradication program would be successful but he conceded that there were "no guarantees".

Mr Astbury said that because cichlids were already in such great numbers in the Altone Park lake, there was no hope of eradicating it.

He said the best outcome the department could hope for was containing the cichlids in the lake by creating a physical barrier so that they did not re-infest downstream waterways.

The eradication program over the next two weeks will include using small 60g explosives to jettison the fish metres into the air, as well as using a poison that targets only gilled animals. Netting also would be used, followed by ongoing monitoring and control.

It is the first time explosives have been used in the metropolitan area in an attempt to eradicate feral fish.

Fisheries Minister Jon Ford said the impact of the two-week eradication program on native species would be minimal because wherever the cichlids had taken hold, there were ~no longer any native fish left.

"The cichlid has been described as the cane toad of the waterways and we need to take immediate, hard-hitting action now before it's too late," Mr Ford said.

Swan River Trust general manager Rod Hughes said despite control measures, it was unlikely that cichlids would be completely eradicated.

He said exotic species in any of our waterways could have a devastating impact on the local ecology by eating native fish and competing with them for food.

"The concerns for the tributaries are just as valid for the river," Mr Hughes said.

[Ashh]

Carp have been a problem in the swan river for a long time. why are these new cichlids so much more dangerous?

[Den]

Hi Dr Cuc

Yes as far as I am concerned it is still happening need to ask interested people to list here what dates they have available?.

Lets work on either 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th of July.

Can everyone who wants to go list which of the above days they have available?.

As for me I have all these days open so I'm easy.

We also need to discuss determine the area to visit and what equipment were gonna need, feedback appreciated.

P.S. Ash please help us keep this thread on the right path it is about organising a trip to an area affected by a feral species of cichlid, please keep species impact debates in another thread.

Cheers
Den

[Dr Cucumber]

Hi Den,

going along to the meeting tonight if you want to discuss things....

cheers,

Dr Cuc.

[Den]

Hi Dr Cuc

Sorry gotta work late all this week , won't be free until the weekend. I am working in the office so I can communicate via email, PM or phone if that suits you.

Cheers
Den

[Dr Cucumber]

Ok, PM me, and we can take it from there.

cheers.

[anchar]

Were you at the meeting Dr. C? Didn't meet you if you were

Andrea

[Den]

PM sent Glenn.

Cheers
Den