Bundjalung National Park and the Oxleyan Pygmy Perch 

Working together

OzFish and Landcare Australia have given a leg up for a little-known endangered fish in Northern NSW, the Oxleyan pygmy perch (OPP), which had its home impacted by the catastrophic 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires in Northern New South Wales.

Habitat degradation and loss caused by the bushfires have led to a significant population decline for many of our native species across New South Wales and Victoria.

Bushfires and recent flooding had dramatically impacted the home of the OPP. The two groups are now working to protect and restore lost habitat for the small-bodied fish within the region to give it every chance of survival.

Multiple threats

The OPP is a small (up to 65mm) fish endemic to regions of South-eastern Australia. We spotted a small number of naturally existing populations in South-eastern Australia after the Millennium drought and devastating bushfires. The fish has a short life span (three to five years) and prefers to live in calm or slow-moving waterways such as streams, lakes, and wetlands. Bundjalung National Park is one of the last habitats for Oxleyan pygmy perch in Australia’s south-east.

Unfortunately, OPPs are vulnerable to a variety of threats: a lack of periodic flooding and changes to natural flows that make it difficult for them to recolonize new areas; farming, urbanization, and wetland draining all contribute to habitat degradation and loss; water quality is decreased by floodplain use and introduced fish species, such as Eastern gambusia preying on these fish, and most recently bushfires that destroy everything in its path.

An important refuge

The Bundjalung National Park stretches north from Iluka to Evans Head with the Pacific Ocean as its eastern boundary covering over 217 square meters of vast heathland plains, coastal floodplains and lagoons. Nestled at the park’s centre is the Esk River – the longest undisturbed coastal river system in New South Wales which is home to many aquatic species. 

The primary goal of the Bundjalung National Park initiative was to improve refuge habitat to lessen the potential and imminent threat of extinction, and to improve the surrounding habitat by removing noxious weeds, replanting native trees, stabilising wetlands and monitoring OPP fish populations.

Footage credit: Bundjalung National Park