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We're helping fish get upstream

Getting up one of our rivers just got a whole lot easier for fish.

Hastings District Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council have worked together enable fish to migrate up the Aropaoanui River.

Resident Brian Cowper reported his concerns that a bridge protection structure on the river was hindering fish passage.

The bridge is managed by Hastings District Council. Its staff carefully placed interlocking boulders downstream of the built structure to gradually raise the water level to the lip of the water flowing over it. In simple terms, the fish can now get through.

“Hastings District Council is happy to help out and proactive when it comes to fish passage, and we got onto this as soon we realised it was a problem,” said its transportation operations manager Les Glock.

Hawke’s Bay is a large region and difficult for council staff alone to find all of the barriers to fish migration.

Andy Hicks works as a water quality and ecology scientist for the regional council, and is an expert on native fish. He also manages the fish barrier reporting portal: www.fishbarrier.co.nz.

“We really hope the general public can help by reporting potential barriers,” he said.

Mr Hicks said public use of the reporting service has so far been quite low and is keen to remind people that everyone can help fish get access to their natural habitats.

The regional council has recently completed trials into a prototype floating fish ramp, providing an inexpensive, robust solution to many of the barriers in the region. Such barriers have cost thousands of dollars to fix in the past, but research by water quality and ecology technician Daniel Fake has confirmed that these new floating ramps will help inanga (eels), bullies and other native species to swim past structures that collectively deny fish access to kilometres of freshwater habitat.

“Ultimately each installation of the plastic ramps will cost around $200,” said Mr Fake. “So if you find any barriers out there, let the regional council know using www.fishbarrier.co.nz. We have a way to fix these structures at relatively low cost.”

 

4 October 2017

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