Started by the Nangiloc Fishing Club, the Chapter would not be able to run without the help of dedicated volunteers from the Nangiloc and Mildura community.
The Chapter promotes safe and sustainable fishing practices in the community as well as helping to support, maintain and develop community projects. They strongly believe in community spirit and giving back to the people who deserve it.
The OzFish Sunraysia Chapter is established on the lands and waterways of the Latje Latj, Barkindji, Kureinji, Barinjdi Barkinjdi, Madi Madi, and Dadi Dadi people.
Located right on Mildura’s doorstep and bordering a wide stretch of the Murray, Kings Billabong is home to many native fish species including golden perch, Murray cod, silver perch and freshwater catfish.
In addition to mapping and resnagging, the Sunraysia Chapter have carried out revegetation work and weed control at the Billabong restoring important fish habitat.
The Darling River is the third-longest river in Australia measuring 1,472 kilometers from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. During a severe drought in 2019, the Lower Darling River had contracted to isolated pools, the river didn’t flow at all and waterholes were rapidly drying leaving native fish at risk of perishing.
Dozens of snags of various shapes have been placed into the Red Cliffs reach of the lower Murray restoring a stretch of habitat more than one and a half kilometres long. The location was determined based on mapping work done by the local OzFish members which highlighted areas of the river lacking snags and in need of restoration.
Butlers Creek forms part of the Kings Billabong Nature reserve wetland complex on the Murray River in North West Victoria.
The volunteers have completed large scale conservation assessment and planning, fish habitat improvement work, community pest eradication events, along with local information and expertise at Butlers Creek to help build resilience into the waterway and the native fishery.
The mapping was undertaken both from canoes fitted with Humminbird® Side Imaging® Sonars and physically walking along the dry creek bed.Over 350 hours were donated by the OzFish Sunraysia Chapter volunteers to complete the project.
The information will be used to identify and prioritise sections of Potterwalkagee Creek that need further restoration.
With thanks to a group of passionate and like-minded rec fishers, the OzFish Sunraysia Chapter stepped up to the mark, creating oxygen refuges for native fish along the Lower Darling River.
OzFish’s Sunraysia River Repair Bus’s was celebrated yesterday evening as OzFish seeks to further its habitat restoration work along the Murray River. OzFish’s Sunraysia River Repair Bus’s was celebrated yesterday evening as OzFish seeks to further its habitat restoration work along the Murray River.
Volunteers from OzFish Unlimited have teamed up with students from the Sunraysia Institute of TAFE to save critically endangered native fish that were in desperate need to be relocated. Upon the routine maintenance of the local culverts, which lowers the water levels, concerned community members found large amounts of trapped fish which had been sucked up from nearby irrigation pumps. In looking to rescue the fish, OzFish put out the call for their volunteers to head on down and help scoop the fish from the water and transport them to the nearby Kings Billabong. The native fish were captured utilizing fish nets and transported in 1,000 litre water tanks fitted with aerators and bilge pumps to Kings Billabong Park, which is approximately 2-3km from the concrete drain’s sites.
A new crop of native trees and plants are set to breathe new life into the banks of Horden’s Lagoon at Wirlinga as Woolshed Thurgoona Landcare Group and OzFish Unlimited prepare for an upcoming community planting day on Sunday August 22nd. Volunteers will meet at Horden’s Lagoon, Riverina Highway, Wirlinga at 9.30am and get their hands dirty planting native vegetation over three hours out on the field. The restoration will help stabilise banks, preventing erosion while also providing valuable habitat of aquatic wildlife and birdlife.
Recreational fishing volunteers are continuing to repair the Lower Darling River and improve vital fish habitat by installing thirteen large logs and rootballs last month downstream of Ellerslie township in far western NSW through the work of OzFish Unlimited. The project has been a collaborative effort by volunteers from Western Landcare and OzFish Sunraysia Chapter, with funding from Western Local Land Services and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing. The newly installed habitat will provide much needed homes for beloved native fish species including Murray cod, golden and silver perch.
Thirty-two enormous snags in the form of tree stumps, root balls and bodies have been replenished into the Darling River this week in a collaborative effort by traditional owners and volunteers from Western Landcare and OzFish Sunraysia Chapter members. The work has been close to 12 months in the making having been delayed due to covid. The habitat was positioned downstream of Ellerslie township in far western NSW after being identified as a vital site to resnag due to the lack of complex habitat in the section of the river.
OzFish Unlimited, Australia’s fishing conservation charity is set to support NSW Western Landcare Group-Bottle Bend Reserve managers in fish habitat action. The local groups will install a two-kilometre fence around the border of a vital riparian corridor along the Murray River to protect the riparian landscape including cultural values and provide designated river access points.
The Sunraysia region is set to receive significant support over the coming years with the setup of a locally based OzFish River Repair Bus. The bus, was recently awarded funding by a Federal Government 2020 Murray Darling Basin Economic Development grant. It will provide an opportunity for up to 35 participants per year to gain unique skills in hands-on river restoration and prepare them for future employment.
Local OzFish Sunraysia Chapter and NSW Western Landcare will soon lay-up to 20 large River Red Gum trunks and stumps into key sections of the Lower Darling riverbed to provide more homes for fish. The two groups have jointly received a Communities Environment Program (CEP) grant to improve vital fish habitat in the Lower Darling River.
OzFish Unlimited volunteers, farmers and community members have worked together over the summer in an emergency fish rescue operation in one of our nation’s most significant river systems – the Lower Darling. The large-scale collaborative effort made possible by the NSW Department of Primary Industries, saw the volunteers rescue and relocate 320 native fish to more permanent waterholes in the River.
Native fish will soon have more areas to rest, shelter, breed and feed with a re-snagging project close to completion in the Murray River by recreational fishing conservation group, OzFish Unlimited. Dozens of snags of various shapes have been placed into the Red Cliffs reach of the lower Murray restoring a stretch of habitat more than one and a half kilometres long. The location was determined based on mapping work done by the local OzFish members which highlighted areas of the river lacking snags and in need of restoration.
Two enterprising Mildura primary school students are encouraging locals to get out and go fishing. Lucinda Mark and Sam Fletcher have teamed up with OzFish Unlimited, Mallee Catchment Management Authority and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing to coordinate a local event as part of national Gone Fishing Day on Sunday, October 20. The day encourages Australians of all ages to get out and celebrate fishing.
Passionate anglers who volunteer their time to create and restore fish habitat in Australia’s waterways, have been left heartbroken as mass fish kills continue in a 40-kilometre stretch of the Darling River, near the town of Menindee in far western NSW. Members of Australia’s largest recreational fishing conservation organisation, OzFish Unlimited, are desperately working to save native fish from suffocating, with plans to pump oxygen into the system by installing several aerators into major weir pools where fish may seek refuge.