Native fish – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

March 20, 2023

How did millions of fish die gasping in the Darling – after three years of rain?

For the second time in five years, millions of fish suffocated in the Darling River. This was not a natural disaster – it’s our doing

Overall winner of the 2018 competition, a Growling Grass Frog (*Litoria raniformis*) by EnviroDNA @enviro_DNA. @enviro_DNA

January 31, 2023

Enough with the koala cakes – the government’s annual Threatened Species Bake Off seriously neglects fish, plants and other lesser-loved species

Eliza Middleton, University of Sydney; Caitlyn Forster, University of Sydney, and Dieter Hochuli, University of Sydney

Our research looked at data from the government’s annual baking competition. Upon close analysis, we find a dangerous lack of diversity and biases towards cute, cuddly mammals.

January 22, 2023

Exploding carp numbers are ‘like a house of horrors’ for our rivers. Is it time to unleash carp herpes?

Ivor Stuart, Charles Sturt University; John Koehn, Charles Sturt University; Katie Doyle, Charles Sturt University, and Lee Baumgartner, Charles Sturt University

Carp can make riverbeds look like golf balls – denuded and dimpled, devoid of any habitat. Releasing carp herpes virus is a controversial proposition, so let’s weigh up the risks and benefits.

The upokororo, or New Zealand grayling (*Prototroctes oxyrhynchus*) Te Papa CC BYNC-ND 4.0

September 28, 2022

From fertiliser to phantom: DNA cracks a century-old mystery about New Zealand’s only extinct freshwater fish

Lachie Scarsbrook, University of Oxford; Kieren Mitchell, University of Otago, and Nic Rawlence, University of Otago

Historical accounts show the upokororo was once common in rivers across the country. It’s now officially extinct, but is there a chance survivors could still be found in remote waterways?

Red-finned blue-eye Bush Heritage Australia / Adam Kerezsy

August 13, 2020

Australia’s smallest fish among 22 at risk of extinction within two decades

Mark Lintermans, University of Canberra; Hayley Geyle, Charles Darwin University; Jaana Dielenberg, The University of Queensland; John Woinarski, Charles Darwin University; Stephen Beatty, Murdoch University, and Stephen Garnett, Charles Darwin University

Twenty of these freshwater fish species have a 50% or greater probability of extinction within the next 20 years.

April 26, 2020

Snowy 2.0 threatens to pollute our rivers and wipe out native fish

John Harris, UNSW Sydney and Mark Lintermans, University of Canberra

The NSW government is soon expected to grant environmental approval to Snowy 2.0. But that process should be halted.

Extreme flooding during Hurricane Maria in 2017 was hazardous for the Puerto Rican people. But a new study finds that it helped native fish populations rebound after years of drought. AP Photo/Alvin Baez

September 17, 2019

Caribbean fish love catastrophic hurricanes

Thomas J. Kwak, North Carolina State University and Alonso Ramirez, North Carolina State University

Big storms with lots of flooding, like hurricanes Dorian and Maria, actually restore the Caribbean’s delicate balance between native and nonnative fish species, new research finds.

Sheep grazing on the Darling River bed. D./Flickr

January 21, 2019

A good plan to help Darling River fish recover exists, so let’s get on with it

Lee Baumgartner, Charles Sturt University and Max Finlayson, Charles Sturt University

A decade of bipartisan research has provided plenty of answers to the problems plaguing the Darling River.

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