Oral Presentation Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2017

Large scale population dynamics of a flow dependent enigmatic freshwater fish. (#68)

Charles R Todd 1 , John D Koehn 1 , Ivor G Stuart 1 , Brenton Zampatti 2 , Clayton Sharpe 3 , Joshua S Barrow 4 , Scott MC Raymond 1 , Jamin Forbes 5 , David Moffatt 6 , Jason Thiem 5 , Wayne Koster 1 , Stephen Balcombe 7
  1. Arthur Rylah Institute, Department of Environment and Primary Industry, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia
  2. South Australian Research and Development Institute, West Beach, SA
  3. CPS Enviro P/L, Irymple, VIC
  4. School of BioSciences, Melbourne University, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  5. NSW Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries, Narrandera, NSW
  6. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Science, Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation, Brisbane, QLD
  7. Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia

Golden perch are perhaps the most enigmatic species in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB).  Recent advances in understanding the ecology of the species has enabled the development of a general meta-population model to examine the influence of flow on golden perch population dynamics.  The model has 6 sub-populations representing the northern and southern MDB.  The model is underpinned by the consultative development of a contemporary conceptual model of the flow related life history of golden perch.  The model is still being refined and results are preliminary; nevertheless, the broad concepts are in place from which numerous insights are gained.  For example, exploring the inter-dependence of the southern basin fish population on movement from the northern basin will be instructive concerning the overall persistence of the species and the importance of connectivity.