MACCAS

[brybry]

Truedogz,

I am disgusted that the authorities haven't followed through in their commitments and their apparent lying.

But what is their motivation for doing so? Too lazy? Too hard? Using funding raised by lobby groups elsewhere? Potential impact to lucrative Trout fishing sector?

Are they concerned that it is too early to elevate both species as recreational angling targets as their populations are still vulnerable?

I don't get it. These are Native species that are in a vulnerable state. It's a no-brainer to me that they would/should be working hard to ensure they recover their range and numbers.

[4liters]

Truedogz,

I am disgusted that the authorities haven't followed through in their commitments and their apparent lying.

But what is their motivation for doing so? Too lazy? Too hard? Using funding raised by lobby groups elsewhere? Potential impact to lucrative Trout fishing sector?

Are they concerned that it is too early to elevate both species as recreational angling targets as their populations are still vulnerable?

I don't get it. These are Native species that are in a vulnerable state. It's a no-brainer to me that they would/should be working hard to ensure they recover their range and numbers.

Sounds like the culture within the relevant departments and organisations has become adversarial towards anglers rather than focusing on what anglers and 'greenies' have in common which is a desire to see native fish populations restored to something like their original numbers.

[azkay]

mm cheeseburgers..

[mazman]

Truedogz I completely agree with your post but unfortunately am living in Zambia in Southern Africa these days so my options are limited. Am now 69 but I grew up living in different parts of Victoria and started fishing at a very early age. It is easy to yearn for "the good old days" but it is another thing as you have pointed out to try and get some balance into our stocking programs and to restore native species to their former glory. This will not be easy but one only has to look at the number of Murray Cod now being caught to know what may be possible for other native species. I regularly fished many of the Goulburn and Ovens catchments 30-40 years back and as I am sure was the case with you Maccas were a frequent part of what was on offer. One can only hope for better times ahead!

This video is a spawning aggregation of Maccas just above Lake Dartmouth (thanks to Zev from the Arthur Rylah Institute).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7INKSmLBh0

that looks like Truedogz

I would go further than looks like

[meppstas]

Let's hope they wake up to the situation and get a restocking program up and running again, would be a real shame to see them completely disappear...
Maybe Bill Classon could do another write up on them, perhaps this will wake them up once again..

cheers
Adrian

[Truedogz]

Yes, that's me in the video ..... and I am no longer involved in the project or helping the CMA.

A few years ago I attended a meeting organised to get relevant groups together to try to restore Macquarie perch populations in the Goulburn catchment. Angling groups were not invited. Even Native Fish Australia, which actually is a conservation organisation, did not get an invite. I got an invite due some technical knowledge and I had contacts with landholders. So that should tell you something when one of the biggest stakeholder groups (who pay for Macquarie perch stocking) were not brought to the table.

I don't have any big grievance with the CMA, they do good work. Some of them are great people, and it saddens me that I can't help them - but I won't now out of principle. But even with them I have run into the 'chardonnay elite green' ideology which now pervades government agencies. I spent 10 minutes talking to one person trying to convince them of all the efforts that anglers do for conservation. Eventually they said 'I suppose there are some good anglers out there'.

The CMA have been trying to help Macquarie perch in the Hughes Creek by placing snags to scour out the silt in the creek. The trees were sourced from a recent bushfire. A lot of the creek is remote and inaccessible to machinery. The CMA along with NFA spent one day on a trial felling a few dead trees into the creek. But then there was a fallout at DELWP about us cutting down dead trees and placing them in the creek. I never heard all the details but heard enough. We had two people from Parks Victoria inspect the trees, checking that they were not habitat trees, and approving their felling. But it will never be allowed to happen again. This action really trashes any realistic possibility of significantly improving the habitat for Macquarie perch. Much of the stream is difficult to access so felling trees to shift sand out of the creek and onto the bank with plantings to stabilise it is the only practical way of doing it over a long length of stream. What are a few carefully selected dead trees compared to the plight of a threatened species? I think DELWP have a pretty warped perspective.

A culture based on a very narrow green ideology now seems to pervade DELWP and combined with arrogance is a very dangerous thing. DELWP are a huge problem and the biggest obstacle to restoring maccas - not all of them, just some people. Its not just me, plenty of other people are finding the same thing. Because of their attitude over half the macca population in the Seven Creeks has been lost.

4litres, twenty years ago I would have called myself a 'greenie'. These days we have nutters who are determined to roll out ideology rather than achieving practical outcomes to help the environment. They pervade government agencies now. On the quiet access points to waterways are being closed by stealth and nobody seems to kick up a fuss. Soft targets such as old reserves are selected. From the angler's perspective we really don't get effective representation now.

A few years ago I had a conversation with a fairly powerful manager in a conservation agency about trout cod. They agreed with me that they are no longer 'critically endangered' but now would fall in the 'vulnerable' category. I will quote what they said me: 'We are never going to hand back control of trout cod to fishermen'. Draw your own conclusions. The only reason you can fish for maccas in the Yarra and Dartmouth is that some people in Fisheries fought like buggery to try to keep the door open.

But with the prevailing attitude the future is grim. A lot of us years ago dreamt that one day we might restore some of the wonderful upland river fisheries for trout cod and Macquarie perch. Its clear it will never happen.

Truedogz

[smokin_reels]

Truedogz I completely agree with your post but unfortunately am living in Zambia in Southern Africa these days so my options are limited. Am now 69 but I grew up living in different parts of Victoria and started fishing at a very early age. It is easy to yearn for "the good old days" but it is another thing as you have pointed out to try and get some balance into our stocking programs and to restore native species to their former glory. This will not be easy but one only has to look at the number of Murray Cod now being caught to know what may be possible for other native species. I regularly fished many of the Goulburn and Ovens catchments 30-40 years back and as I am sure was the case with you Maccas were a frequent part of what was on offer. One can only hope for better times ahead!

This video is a spawning aggregation of Maccas just above Lake Dartmouth (thanks to Zev from the Arthur Rylah Institute).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7INKSmLBh0

that looks like Truedogz

Sure is! I was there too the day the logs were put in to change water flow, was quite rewarding when we saw some baby maccas swim into the snags at the end of the day . The feels were real.

[Mjerksen]

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread fellas, but its always great to see people talking about our maccas, and getting passionate!
As Truedogz has said above, there are a couple of groups still doing something about these fish!

I'm a member of Native Fish Australia (Vic), and we've successfully bred both maccas and trout cod in the past at our hatchery in Bundoora, and we're reviving the macca breeding program again this year.
We're entirely volunteer run, and are always looking for passionate individuals to come along, see what we're all about and maybe even help!
If anyone would like any more information, feel free to send me a PM and we can have a chat.

Cheers, Mark.

[Paulanderson]

Mark that is really great news that NFA is going to breed Maccas again this year. Seeing I live in Zambia and am currently working in Kenya I cannot help but once I return to Australia I will be a helper for sure.

Paul