Samples collected from the Hastings River during severe drought and bushfire will help inform research into how fish communities respond to environmental extremes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's all thanks to a collaborative project involving a Charles Sturt University-led research team. Citizen scientists will also have a role to play.
Dr Jessica Tout-Lyon from Charles Sturt is guiding the project with a group of stakeholders in regional NSW.
The stakeholders include First Nations and recreational fishers, conservation groups such as OzFish and Landcare, researchers from universities including the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Newcastle, and researchers from state government NSW DPI Fisheries.
Dr Tout-Lyon said the research will look at historical water samples to investigate the community of fish in the Hastings River from 2018 to 2020.
That is when bushfire and drought hit the area. Estuaries in the Shoalhaven and Wagonga on the NSW South Coast also form part of the research project.
The researchers will use the historical weekly environmental DNA (eDNA) samples collected from the estuaries between 2018 and 2020 by oyster farmers as part of the research by project collaborators Dr Penny Ajani and Professor Shauna Murray from the University of Technology Sydney.
They will explore how recreational fish communities were impacted by consecutive extreme events of drought, fire and flood.
The research project has a present-day twist.
Charles Sturt University honours student Seb Roe will work with OzFish to engage recreational and First Nations fishers to participate in present-day eDNA sampling of water to study the fish communities in the three estuaries.
"We are hoping this will demonstrate the importance of involving citizen scientists in collecting samples for long-term bio-monitoring programs in estuaries," Dr Tout-Lyon said.
There will be training about how to take present-day citizen science water sampling using environmental DNA methods.
The researchers are also encouraging recreational and First Nations fishers from the three estuaries to complete an online survey about which fish species are important to them in their estuaries.
Fishers in the Hastings, Shoalhaven and Wagonga estuaries are encouraged to get in touch with their OzFish chapter to find out how they can get involved in the project and the present-day research using eDNA methods.
Dr Tout-Lyon received a NSW Department of Primary Industries Recreational Fishing Trust Fund grant of $156,525 for research in 2023-2025.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Lisa Tisdell
I'm a Port Macquarie News journalist, keen traveller, angler and cricket fan.
I'm a Port Macquarie News journalist, keen traveller, angler and cricket fan.
