The Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate are letting us know about their cod encouraging reef balls:
“Over the past 10 years Yerrabi Pond has been stocked with over 50,000 native fish to help improve the health of the waterway and assist recreational fisherman to enjoy the pond.
“The site is a popular spot amongst local fishermen. However; monitoring has shown that the Pond seems to lack large numbers of larger cod despite having good numbers of small cod under the legal minimum size limit of 60 cm.
“These reef balls will give the larger cod somewhere to live and the smaller cod somewhere to grow and develop over time, creating a healthy, sustainable population in the pond,” Mr Beitzel said. This is the second reef ball project in the ACT following the Murray Cod breeding balls in the Molonglo River. The ACT Government will monitor the pond as part of its regular fisheries monitoring program.
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On a slightly related note. I presume the Murrumbidgee River has carp. Googong has no carp.
With the new you beaut pipeline between the two, how will carp be kept out of Googong?
All I heard reading this was “Fish balls, blah blah blah, $$$$, fish balls”.
Next we’ll hear of toddlers being swallowed whole by monster fish. Why make ‘em so big anyway, in a waterway that probably hasn’t got the means to sustain them.
I saw the giant murray cod at the hatchery in Forest Hill when I was but a young lad. Looked a bit sad to be cooped up.
Walked past them this morning. Great stuff but surely you wouldn’t eat anything out of Yerrabi Pond?
This is great to see. Anything we do to ensure the future of a native species is a good thing.
Especially the venerable old Murray Cod.
Pork Hunt said :
Good point.
Much ado was made about commisioning a token hydro power generator but no references to the IES comments on transferring carp.
It could be another case of carpal tunnel syndrone.
Thumper said :
But is the Murray Cod a native of the creek that used to be where Yerrabi Pond now is?
Pork Hunt said :
See p.234 of the EIS. Basically carp is already present in the Googong catchment. Also see p.80 of this for a description of the fish egg filters.
dungfungus said :
It was almost certainly an ephemeral creek so unlikely but I know nothing about the spawning habits of Murray Cod
davo101 said :
You are on the (cod) ball today davo101. Maybe the larger carp that get in the tunnel will be shredded in the hydro pelton wheel.
dungfungus said :
Absolutely no doubt it would have been.
They dragged a perfectly suitable BMW out of there a few years back … could’ve just left it there and saved a whole bunch of trouble and expense.