Careers Week - Landcare for Fish!
During Careers Week Yarrilinks was involved in a project with Wimmera CMA and students from St Brigid’s College to improve wetland habitat and participate in the release of endangered native fish into a refuge dam. We were supported on the day by Scotty from Barengi Gadjin Land Council, and Sam from Vic Fisheries Authority who came to release the fish. The landholder even stopped by with her dog Bob!
The day started with planting wetland “sods” from Neangar Nursery in Bendigo. A bit different to the usual tubestock, these are rectangles of soil filled with wetland plants that are nestled on the wetland bottom as one whole piece. As the plants grow, they will spread out sideways from the sod and colonize other parts of the dam.
The dam is visited by flocks of ducks, so we added chicken wire guards around the sods to protect them as they grow.
We also added some habitat to the dam in the form of dry logs and branches. These will provide habitat for the native fish, and hiding spots so they can get away from any waterbirds looking for a snack!
This particular site was chosen because it is fed with an environmental water allocation from the Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline system. It’s also free of predatory fish species, according to eDNA testing. This will help provide a refuge site for these endangered fish.
Part of the day also included discussions with the students about career paths, and what experiences brought us to the roles we have today. The students were surprised by the variety. Sam from Fisheries grew up keeping aquariums, and worked in a pet shop in high school. Dean from WCMA used to be a journalist, and Scotty used to be a chef, specialising in bush tucker.
The site is also special for another very important reason. It has a number of Aboriginal scar trees, including a beautiful, huge black box tree which grows on the side of the dam. Scotty from BGLC taught the students about these features, showing us how markings on the trees can help determine what kind of tool was used to make the scar. He also showed us some bush tucker - saltbush berries! Two of the students were game to give them a try, and said they were pretty good!
There are a number of other environmental water sites in the Yarrilinks area that could be important refuges for native fish. We’re hoping to provide more opportunities for students to be involved in projects like this in future.
