Final Report Project R2004: Development of a Framework for the Sustainable Rivers Audit: Appendix 4 - Fish. Review and Development of Fish Assessment Protocols

Abstract

This report recommends a program of work to be conducted within the Sustainable Rivers Audit (Audit) aimed at: - finalising a standard methodology for fish bioassessment across the MDB; - conducting the first Basin-wide assessment of river health using fish data. A specialist workshop, focused on fish-based bioassessment for the Audit, was attended by key personnel from the relevant Murray-Darling Basin agencies (MDBAs) in April 2001. Key issues discussed at the workshop were: - the absence of and the need for standardised sampling methods across the Murray- Darling Basin (MDB); - the need for a standard set of variables and derived measures ('metrics') which describe fish communities at a range of levels of organisation from the individual to the community level; - the difficulty in defining reference conditions for fish within the MDB; - the need for a single analytical method ('framework') for making comparisons of metrics against expectations or reference conditions; - the need for outputs from the assessment which are readily understood and communicable to river managers in the MDB. All the issues were discussed and agreement reached on a program of activities and surveys to be conducted in the first five-year Audit period in order to implement fishbased bioassessment within the Audit.