THE NSW Fish Habitat Partnership is seeking your feedback on how to build a fish friendly NSW.
Fish habitat loss is one of the most significant factors in the fight to protect fish stocks and with this in mind, the NSW Fish Habitat Partnership (FHP) is developing a Fish Habitat Action Plan for NSW that will help set the direction and priorities for investment in fish habitat for the state for the next 10 years and ensure we leave a lasting legacy for future generations.
NSW FHP is asking that people fill out this short survey to help determine what changes have taken place to fish habitat in the last few years and decades.
Over the last 200 years extensive amounts of fish habitat have been lost in NSW which has had a significant impact on the number of fish, the resilience of fish communities and the sustainability of oyster production.
Across NSW there are thousands of barriers to fish passage, poor water quality in most inland rivers and many estuaries, and the loss of riverbank vegetation and coastal fish habitats has been significant.
- Over 270 weirs, over 3000 road crossings just in coastal NSW and over 1000 floodgates that are barriers to fish passage.
- Over 50% of rivers within the Murray-Darling Basin have had their fish habitat significantly modified or removed.
- Pollution of the marine estate, from littering, spills and land-based runoff, is perceived as the major threat.
- Losses of up to 60% of saltmarsh and seagrass have occurred since the 1970s across NSW.
- Significant degradation of coastal habitats due to flood mitigation and drainage practices has occurred.
More information about the Plan can be found here. Please complete the survey by 31st August 2016.
