The distribution area of the Macquarie perch, including around the Shoalhaven River. Inset: Differences between the western (top) and coastal perch. Images: Primary Industries and Regional Development Fisheries.
An elusive fish species not seen in the Shoalhaven River for 20 years has continued to evade researchers.
A four-day research trip to the upper reaches of the river in search of the Kangaroo/Shoalhaven lineage of the endangered Macquarie perch has failed to find any trace of the species.
NSW Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) Fisheries says despite the failure, it will continue the search for a remnant population of the perch as hope remains that some are hidden away waiting to be found.
DPIRD Senior Fisheries manager Luke Pearce was joined by local traditional owners on the research trip, where they took water samples to test for environmental DNA (eDNA) left by the Kangaroo River perch.
“eDNA allows us to detect a species in the wild without actually seeing or capturing it,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the results have not returned any traces of the Kangaroo River perch.
“We know that historically it has been found in this extremely remote section of the Shoalhaven River, only accessible via kayak, hiking or helicopter. So we spent four days kayaking through rough terrain, camping and setting nets in the hopes of finding this fish.”
Mr Pearce said DPIRD Fisheries would leave no stone unturned in the search before any conclusions could be reached on its status.
“While these results do not confirm that the species has gone extinct, our next steps are to conduct a detailed assessment of the amount of surveying work that has been done on this species to date,” he said.
“Once we do a complete a stocktake of what’s been done, we can see if there is any further geographical area, sampling methodology or specific timing of surveys that have been missed and we can make a plan to fill these gaps.
“We will also do some further investigation with the local community and traditional owners to see if there are any insights into locations that may have been missed or overlooked.
“We are also working closely with a taxonomist to confirm if the Kangaroo River perch is a genetically separate species to the Macquarie perch.”
For more information about Macquarie perch, or to report a sighting, click here.
