Fish in Yerrabi Pond will have some additional hide outs with the installation of 50 artificial habitats in the popular Canberra pond, Aquatic Ecologist, Matthew Beitzel from the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate, said today.
“This project was made possible with an ACT Environment Grant of $23,500 to the Capital Region Fishing Alliance, which is installing these valuable habitats, commonly called reef balls” Mr Beitzel said.
“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.
Each year, about $170,000 of grants are allocated to community groups with projects that help protect the ACT environment. More information on the grants program can be found by visiting www.environment.act.gov.au
Anglers are encouraged to use appropriate catch and release practices including using wet hands or soft nets, keeping the fish in the water as much as possible and supporting the belly of the fish when lifting.
Courtesy of: TAMS.
Loading ...
