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Weed bait for anglers to help protect Kooragang wetlands
15 February, 2004
NSW Fisheries today announced a scheme to provide weed bait for anglers and help protect the Kooragang Wetlands.
The scheme will be funded by the NSW recreational fishing licence and will include the installation of a large bait tank to give anglers a free, reliable source of weed bait.
This is an important win for recreational fishers and one of the Hunter Region’s most significant ecosystems.
The Hunter estuary is the most important coastal habitat in NSW for migratory wading birds, and is a valuable habitat for fish, prawns, crabs. Much of the area is listed as an internationally important wetland.
Historically, recreational fishers have collected weed bait from the Stockton Sandspit, within the Kooragang Wetlands, on the north arm of the Hunter River, next to the Stockton Bridge.
Many species of wading birds roost here at high tide and when the sandspit is not accessible, fishers tend to wander around nearby Ash Island, also part of the Kooragang Wetlands, and often find themselves bogged.
Under the guidance of an ecologist from the Centre of Natural Resources at the NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, bait weed will be collected from the Stockton Sandspit and grown in the new tank.
The weed bait tank will be built near the Kooragang City Farm on Ash Island.
It will help reduce disturbance to wading birds and minimise damage to Ash Island’s fragile habitats, by providing anglers with a convenient, free source of weed bait.
Educational signs that briefly explain the project will be installed at Stockton Sandspit and on Ash Island.
The Kooragang Wetland Rehabilitation Project was launched in 1993 by NSW Fisheries to restore fish and other wildlife habitats degraded by 200 years of clearing, draining and filling in the Hunter River estuary.
NSW recreational fishing licence funds must be spent on projects to benefit anglers.
For more information about how your licence money is being spent.
