Meet Braedan Lampard, VIC Murray Darling Basin Manager

Next in line for our meet the team series is Braedan Lampard. Based in Mildura, Braedan is OzFish Program Manager for the Murray-Darling Basin and was happy to have a chat amidst his busy work schedule.

Braeden had an interest in fishing from a young age and encourages young people to follow in his footsteps of fish habitat conservation at every opportunity. You’ll find him coordinating various restoration projects throughout the Murray Darling Basin if he isn’t out fishing!

Tell us a little about you?

I have a background in natural resource management in a variety of fields including biodiversity, riparian management, restoration, stakeholder engagement and native fish ecology.

Which areas do you focus on? 

I grew up in Mildura so I bring real-life knowledge, experience and community connections to the table. I focus mainly on freshwater restoration projects in the many rivers, creeks and billabongs throughout the mighty Murray Darling Basin.

What’s something interesting people do not know about you?

I have recently started getting into collecting plastic Australian made lures. Whilst the collection is small now, it is growing. The aim is to collect enough lures to display on a wall at home one day.

You’ve been involved in a lot of projects for OzFish, tell us about them and which one is your favourite?

Previously, I have been involved in instream habitat restoration projects. I’m kind-of known for doing lots of resnagging! There’s millions to go back so I am happy to wear that like a badge of honour. But I also coordinated community fishing days, rubbish and community clean-ups, native tree planting days and pest species removal events.

Right now, I’m getting stuck into installing fish screen on irrigation pumps, vegetation planting days and community fishing days.

My personal favourite would be the work that has been conducted on the Lower Darling River which has included translocating native fish out of drying holes and the installation of woody habitat

Tell us about fishing locally?

I grew up fishing with my family. My uncle and his friend used to pick me up after school (depending on what we wanted to catch) and take me down to the Murray for a fish. In high school, I spent most of my time down the river either camping and fishing with friends and family. My love for fishing and the Murray river has only grown from there and I spend every minute either thinking about fishing, restoring our waterways or fishing.

There are countless great fishing experiences which will stay in my memory forever. I believe that the best fishing experience is yet to come as I watch my daughter grow up enjoying and loving our waterways like me. I hope that she will fall in love with fishing and the environment as much as I have.

Worst fishing experience?

It would have to be the Cod Classics at Yarrawonga. We got smashed with 100+mm of rain in two days. Everything got soaked, boats sank and not many fish were caught. 

Favourite place to fish in Australia?

My favourite place to fish in Australia is within Lower Murray river from Nangiloc to Ned’s corner it’s a super spot to fish.

Why OzFish?

There are many reasons why I work at OzFish. But the main reasons are, I love fish and love to fish.

I truly believe in the goals and aspirations and what we stand for as a charity. Raising the skillset of recreational anglers to undertake restoration projects will significantly benefit the native fishery and it’s important to me to leave a legacy behind. I want to ensure I did absolutely everything I possibly could to create a healthier and sustainable future for native fish.