This project is funded by the VFA Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Fund and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.
More than 250 fish castles
to be installed
Repurpose shell
that would have gone to landfill
Provide complex habitat
for black bream
Community effort to deliver habitat restoration
OzFish volunteers, supported by local organisations, are delivering innovative ‘fish castles’ for native species in Gippsland’s Lake King.
Using recycled scallop shells, donated through the Nature Conservancy’s ‘Shuck Don’t Chuck’ program, OzFish has been creating habitat structures that will provide native fish with an important source of shelter and food.
The shells are collected from local fisheries, restaurants, and businesses in Melbourne, then cured for a minimum of six months to ensure they don’t introduce contaminants to the waterway. They are then put into triangular mesh frames, more than four feet long, constructed thanks to the efforts of the local Twin Rivers Men’s Shed.
The triangular shape has been tried and tested, through other OzFish projects, to be more attractive to fish, oysters and other colonising species as they prefer angular surfaces because they allow less build-up of mud and sediment.
Once deployed into Lake King, near the mouth of the mighty Tambo River, the fish castles help to create complex habitat for native fish populations, including black bream that the lakes are so famous for. The natural shells not only help to attract new shellfish growth, such as mussels, but also provide a home for the small creatures, like shrimp and crabs, that help to form the bottom of the food chain.
These in turn provide juvenile fish with a valuable source of food and the fish castles’ complex maze of small holes provide shelter from predators.
The fish castles have been deployed by boat to the same area as some large woody habitats recently installed by the East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, further increasing the fish habitat complexity in the area.
Get involved
To complete the construction and installation of the new fish castles, OzFish will be holding volunteer days in the near future. Stay tuned to our events page and social media channels for more information on when those will be.
Donate to OzFish today to help projects like this one across Australia.
This project is funded by the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Fund and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.
