Oral Presentation Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2024

Fish passage prevention as a goal - the Tantangara Creek Fish Barrier (111594)

Lizzie Pope 1 , Barrie Titulaer 1 , Tarmo A Raadik 2
  1. Snowy Hydro Limited, Cooma, NSW, Australia
  2. Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia

Natural and artificial barriers to fish passage can be a key protection measure to prevent introduced fish from accessing the habitat and interacting with small bodied native fish in the upper reaches of stream catchments. 

Here we present the design of an artificial fish barrier intended to prevent access of the Climbing Galaxias (Galaxias brevipinnis) into the habitat of the Stocky Galaxias (Galaxias tantangara) in the NSW Snowy Mountains. 

Climbing Galaxias possess unique swimming abilities that make them expert barrier navigators. As such, designing an effective barrier in a remote location has required careful consideration of all design features to prevent passage under all flow conditions.