Once common across the region, Eel Tailed Catfish had essentially disappeared from our waterways, with only small populations found in isolated bodies of water such as dams and lakes. As luck would have it, Australia’s most genetically diverse population of catfish was right on our door step, in the Barham Lakes.
While returning this native fish back to the waterways to enhance the natural ecology may seem logical, regulations meant it wasn’t easy. For the past 13 years, a dedicated group has demonstrated what can be achieved with dogged determination and this week, that labour of love saw the catfish return home.
“This is the start of something that we intend to continue until we have self-sustaining populations of catfish,” said Dr John Conallin as he addressed the crowd gathered at Eagle Creek on the Moulamein Road on Wednesday, May 31.
“Catfish were really important for the original inhabitants in places like the Pollack Swamp and other areas around here, they were important for us as food sources as we went through our ancestry and now, we’re living in the next generation where kids haven’t seen them.
“Part of this program is saying that these Eel Tailed Catfish are socially important but also ecologically important.”
Catfish can grow up to 90cm in length and it is now estimated they may have a lifespan of over 25 years. It takes around three years for them to reach maturity and start to breed. A male catfish excavates a hole and builds a nest that can be over a metre in diameter. It was once thought they required small rocks in a waterway to build the nest but recent breeding events in the Deniliquin lagoons has shown that small sticks can be used by the fish to construct their nest. Once the nest is constructed, the female lays the eggs and hatching commences a week later. The fingerlings then stay with the male for a period of time before swimming off. They can lay thousands of eggs in a spawning and can spawn multiple times throughout the summer v about 20 degrees water temperature.
Roger Knight of the Edward Wakool Angling Association and WMLIG said, “If you’ve got a vision, just keep knocking on doors and try to crash through the barriers.”
One barrier was concern held by authorities that the fish from the lakes would be inbred and so genetic testing was needed.
“During the process, Local Land Services were amazing. They gave us a lot of money to do genetic studies.
“So, I did a genetic study with Megan Duncan, a freshwater catfish genetic specialist.
“What ended up happening was they found they were the most genetically diverse catfish they had ever seen.
“Then, we started asking the question why aren’t they inbred, having been in the lake since the 1980s?”
It was discovered that as lakes or dams dried at various times, fisheries had been collecting catfish and putting them in the Barham Lakes.
“Victoria saw the genetics and said ‘we need them!’ as their populations were getting inbred and if they got a disease, they could die out very quickly.”
Around 150 Eel Tailed Catfish were released on site with other locations, including the Pollack Swamp, Edward River, Swan Lagoon and Merribit Creek. The program will continue with further releases planned as the fish breeding in Narrabri NSW continues.
The success of the project is due to the collaboration of the Edward-Wakool Angling Association, Western Murray Land Improvement Group, Deniliquin Kolety Lagoons Landcare Group, Murray Local Land Services, the Recreational Fishing Trust, NSW DPI Fisheries and the Joint Indigenous Group.
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 8 June 2023.
