Improving fish stock in the Clarence

[nsw_fisheries]

http://www.fisheries.nsw.gov.au/gen/...uly08_fish.htm

"This document has been posted for information and to encourage discussion among yourselves. For more information from NSW Fisheries on the issue, please visit our web site on www.fisheries.nsw.gov.au"

[Fitzy]

Copy of above link

Improving fish stock in the Clarence
8 July, 2003
The NSW Government has approved grants worth $60,000 to help restore important fish habitats in the Clarence River over the next year.

The funding will help rehabilitate 4.5 hectares of riverbank and 258 hectares of estuarine and freshwater wetlands around the Clarence.

The Recreational Fishing Saltwater Trust, which distributes funds raised from recreational fishing licences, has set aside $120,000 over two years for habitat improvement in the Clarence.

Today’s announcement of $60,000 for the first year covers the first funding round of a two-year program.

Estuarine fish such as bream, flathead, prawns and mullet will directly benefit from the work being done to rehabilitate the areas where fish feed, breed and live.

Two of the projects are on Micalo Island and involve restoring tidal flows, habitat and fish passage to 37 hectares of estuarine wetlands.

A third project, next to Wooloweyah Lagoon, involves removing a section of a levee and restoring natural tides to 50 hectares of former estuarine wetland.

The fourth wetland rehabilitation project involves opening a floodgate to 171 hectares of wetland at Little Broadwater. This wetland was once a significant contributor to the Clarence fishery of juvenile and adult recreational fish species. By opening the floodgate, saline water can return and along with it the fish and other plant and animal life needed for the swamp to be reborn as a significant estuarine wetland.

Funding in this round of grants has also been approved for fencing off vegetation of 1.4 hectares of riverbank at Eatonsville Reserve and rehabilitation of three hectares of river frontage at Shark Creek.

Mr Macdonald said the projects all involve matching funding from community groups, individuals, councils and other agencies in the Clarence region.

Details of the allocations under the Clarence Habitat Grant Program are as follows:

Applicant
Grant
Proposal

Wetland Care Australia
$9,860
Rehabilitation of 171 hectares of wetland at Little Broadwater Swamp

Rob Schafer
$10,000
Restoration of tidal flow, fish passage and rehabilitation of mangrove and saltmarsh on 25 hectares of wetland at Micalo Island. The site is adjacent to parts of the recreational fishing haven in the lower Clarence.

Wetland Care Australia
$10,000
Restoration of tidal flow to 50 hectares of former wetland next to Wooloweyah Lagoon.

L & R Vance
$9,980
Restoration of 12 hectares of wetland on Micalo Island at Oyster Channel. This is a significant recreational fishery site.

Maclean Shire Council and Clarence and Shark Creek Landcare groups
$10,000
Rehabilitation of 3 hectares of riverbank.

Pristine Waters Council
$5,160
Revegetation of 1.4 hectares of riverbank at Eatonsville Reserve