Barham Lakes Native Fish Release Event
Bringing together community members and school students to support endangered fish conservation efforts
Capacity building - LEP_23-023_LLC013
The issue
Western Murray Land Improvement Group secured 1,000 juvenile Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeons (Mogurnda adspersa) from Middle Creek Aquaculture, and approximately 3,000 juvenile Olive Perchlets (Ambassis agassizii), for release into the Barham Lakes Native Fish Nursery in late March 2025. School students from Barham High School and Templestowe College joined local Barapa Barapa Elder, Uncle Ron Galway, and representatives from Turtles Australia Inc. in releasing the Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeons into three lakes at the precinct.
The coordination of this release was facilitated by Western Murray’s Local Landcare Coordinator, Tahlia Stewart, and funded through the NSW Landcare Enabling Program 2023-2027. The funding to support the purchase of fish and facilitation of the release was provided by cluBarham.
Small-bodied Native Fish in Australia are in critical decline, with 37% of species at risk of extinction (Lintermans et al., 2024). Impacts from invasive species have been a prominent cause of this decline, and there is a lack of invasive species free habitat for native fish left in Australia.
The solution
School students from Barham High School and Templestowe College were involved in the Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeon fish release, increasing their knowledge on the site and educating them on the importance of ecosystem biodiversity, as well as the role these small fish play in our environment.
This release has also increased the ownership and responsibility the Barham High school students feel over a significant site in their town.
Timely funding sourced from cluBarham facilitated the purchase of the Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeons from Middle Creek Aquaculture, allowing Western Murray staff and school students to introduce them into the native fish nursery.
The impact
This native fish release will greatly increase the biodiversity of the Barham Lakes Native Fish Nursery and provide critical population refuges for these endangered species. Releasing these fish into the Lakes precinct will provide them with an invasive species free habitat to breed, increasing their population size. This increase in population size will allow for these fish to be relocated to stock other waterways in the future, furthering their distribution and improving other freshwater ecosystems in the Southern Murray Darling Basin Catchment.
Key facts
- 2 Species of endangered fish released
- Over 50 participants, mostly school students
- Over 4000 fish released
- Wetland biodiversity enhanced