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Water Quality Monitoring, North Queensland

Coastal wetlands provide important habitat for fish and aquatic invertebrates, but they can experience rapid and seasonal changes in water quality that can have lasting effects on the health of the species that live there.

In severe cases fish kills can occur when dissolved oxygen (DO) become critically low. In the tropics, these conditions typically occur during the warmer months due to a combination of fluctuating nutrient levels, high water temperatures and changing water levels.

226 fishes

up to 106 cm rescued and relocated

12462 km

of travelling from our volunteers

1090 hours

of combined volunteering work

Project Aims

We have been collecting real-time water quality data in a tropical coastal wetland south of Townsville (north QLD) for the past 12 months. The parameters we have been monitoring include temperature, pH, DO and turbidity. The data we are collecting is helping us improve our understanding of temporal changes in water quality, particularly at critical times of the year such as the austral monsoon season.

By monitoring water quality data in real-time in modified coastal wetlands, we aim to better understand the conditions that can result in fish kills and will use this information to inform management decisions for developed coastal catchments.

Project Location

Project Location – Lilliesmere Creeka short, coastal catchment in the lower Burdekin, North Queensland.

The Lilliesmere and Kalamia Creek catchment consists of a combination of urban, peri-urban and agricultural environments.

Our water quality logger is currently deployed in Lilliesmere Lagoon, a waterway that is popular with recreational fishers and is stocked annually with barramundi by the Burdekin Fish Restocking Association. Barramundi is the main species targeted in this waterway however, anglers can also catch a range of other species, including sleepy cod, eel-tailed catfish, fork-tailed catfish and tarpon.

Project Call to Action

Recreational fishers who would like to help support this project can join OzFish and we’ll get you started today.

BECOME A MEMBER NOW

In February 2019 Lilliesmere Lagoon in the Lower Burdekin was depleted of oxygen causing a fish kill.

Among the dead fish were a number of mature barramundi, many > 1 m. The community came together in an effort to rescue and relocate the affected fish and are now working with OzFish to better understand water quality in the catchment.

What happens next?

OzFish are continuing to monitor water quality in Lilliesmere Lagoon, with the support of local recreational fishers.

OzFish, together with our project partners, are raising funds to increase our capacity to monitor water quality in north QLD, and to invest in temporary measures that can help us preserve fish during critical water quality events. Together, we hope to address the information deficit around water quality fluctuations in tropical coastal wetlands, and to secure better outcomes for fish habitat and fisheries in the coastal tropics.

LATEST NEWS

JUNE 11, 2020 - Recreational Fishers To Test Water Quality For Fish In The Lower Burdekin

A citizen science project announced today for the lower Burdekin will see recreational fishers collect important information about water quality changes in freshwater wetlands across the lower Burdekin. The project aims to monitor water quality in a tropical coastal wetland and is a collaboration between Australia’s dedicated fishing conservation organisation OzFish Unlimited, NQ Dry Tropics and recreational fishers from the Burdekin Fish Stocking Association. OzFish Project Manager for North & Far North QLD, Dr Geoffrey Collins said the invitation to engage anglers in important water quality monitoring acknowledges the value of recreational anglers and their passion to see better management of coastal waterways and wetlands.

Find Out More

This work would not have been possible without the support from our project partners. This project is partly funded through a grant from the Australian Federal Government.