Boatsales Staff•5 Sept 2014

NEWS

Threatened Species Day this Father's Day

NSW DPI says report threatened fish species, including all southern bluefin tuna encounters this Sunday

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is reminding anglers, divers and other water users to be on the lookout for threatened fish species and report any sightings as part of Threatened Species Day this Sunday (September 7).

We have published the full list of threatened species at the foot of this news article. The opening photo accompanying this story is a protected Black Rockcod estimated around 4kg in weight caught from a Sydney rock spot in March this year.

DPI Senior Conservation Manager, Dr Trevor Daly, said Threatened Species Day is a national day held each year to remember the death of the last remaining Tasmanian tiger in 1936 and promotes the importance of protecting, conserving and improving biodiversity in Australia and around the world.

"A species is listed as threatened when its numbers have declined to a point where it is at risk of becoming extinct," Dr Daly said.

"There are currently 24 aquatic species listed as threatened in NSW from both our marine and freshwater environments.

"Many of the threatened aquatic species in NSW are very well known in the community such as the Greynurse, Great White and some Hammerhead sharks, and larger fish species such as Black Rockcod in coastal waters or Trout Cod in our inland rivers and streams.

"However, there are also many small, obscure and relatively unknown threatened aquatic species that include finfish such as the Purple Spotted Gudgeon, Flathead Galaxias and Southern Pygmy Perch, as well as the crustacean known as the Buchanans Fairy Shrimp and the aquatic invertebrate, the River Snail.

"Most of these relatively unknown species have very limited distributions and now only occur in a few locations."

Dr Daly said that everyone can play a role to help prevent further declines and promote recovery of each of our threatened aquatic species.

"DPI has many projects and partnerships underway to protect threatened species including research into threatened species, the rehabilitation of fish habitat and the removal of barriers to fish passage," Dr Daly said.

"The community can help by becoming aware of what a rare fish looks like and reporting any sightings to DPI.

"This information will help us to increase our knowledge of the status and distribution of each threatened species and will add value to our fish species surveys and habitat mapping.

"Fishers can also help by not returning to the water any pest fish species they catch, especially Redfin perch and Common Carp, as predation and habitat modification by these introduced species is a major threat to our freshwater threatened fish.

"Other ways the community can help includes avoiding damage to shoreline and riparian vegetation, taking care not to transport fish, water or weeds from one waterway to another and never releasing aquarium fish into a waterway or drain."

For more information on threatened species or to report a threatened species email fisheries.threatenedspecies@dpi.nsw.gov.au.

NSW THREATENED SPECIES LIST

Species presumed extinct

A species is eligible to be listed as presumed extinct if, in the opinion of the Fisheries Scientific Committee, it has not been recorded in its known or expected habitat over a time frame appropriate to its life cycle.

<< Bennetts Seaweed - Vanvoorstia bennettiana

<< Green Sawfish - Pristis zijsron

<< Haswells Caprellid - Metaprotella haswelliana

<< Marine Worm - Hadrachaeta aspeta

Critically endangered species

Critically endangered species face an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future as determined by the Fisheries Scientific Committee. A species is eligible for listing as critically endangered if it has undergone an extremely large reduction in abundance, geographic distribution or genetic diversity and is affected by a threatening process.

<< Fitzroy Falls Spiny Crayfish - Euastacus dharawalus

<< Flathead Galaxias - Galaxias rostratus

<< Greynurse Shark - Carcharias taurus

<< Murray Hardyhead - Craterocephalus fluviatilis

<< Marine Brown Alga - Nereia lophocladia

<< Marine Slug - Smeagol hilaris

Endangered species

Endangered species face a very high risk of extinction in the near future as determined by the Fisheries Scientific Committee. A species is eligible for listing as endangered if it has undergone a very large reduction in abundance, geographic distribution or genetic diversity and is affected by a threatening process.

<< Adams Emerald Dragonfly - Archaeophya adamsi

<< Eastern Freshwater Cod - Maccullochella ikei

<< Macquarie Perch - Macquaria australasica

<< Oxleyan Pygmy Perch - Nannoperca oxleyana

<< Purple Spotted Gudgeon - Mogurnda adspersa

<< River Snail - Notopala sublineata

<< Scalloped Hammerhead Shark - Sphyrna lewini

<< Southern Bluefin Tuna - Thunnus maccoyii

<< Southern Pygmy Perch - Nannoperca australis

<< Sydney Hawk Dragonfly - Austrocordulia leonardi

<< Trout Cod - Maccullochella macquariensis

Vulnerable species

Vulnerable species face a high risk of extinction in the medium term future as determined by the Fisheries Scientific Committee. A species is eligible for listing as vulnerable if it has undergone a large reduction in abundance, geographic distribution or genetic diversity and is affected by a threatening process.

<< Black Rockcod - Epinephelus daemelii

<< Bousfield Marsh Hopper - Microrchestia bousfieldi

<< Buchanans Fairy Shrimp - Branchinella buchananensis

<< Great Hammerhead Shark - Sphyrna mokarran

<< Great White Shark - Carcharodon carcharias

<< Murray Crayfish - Euastacus armatus

<< Silver Perch - Bidyanus bidyanus

Endangered populations

Endangered populations face a very high risk of extinction in the near future as determined by the Fisheries Scientific Committee. For a population to be eligible for listing it must be clearly defined and satisfy one or more of the following: It is disjunct or near the limit of its geographic range; it is genetically, biologically, morphologically, or ecologically distinct; it is otherwise of significant conservation value; the population must have undergone a very large reduction in abundance, distribution or genetic diversity and be affected by a threatening process.

<< Darling River Hardyhead population in the Hunter River catchment – Craterocephalus amniculus

<< Murray-Darling Basin population of Eel Tailed Catfish - Tandanus tandanus

<< Posidonia australis - Port Hacking, Botany Bay, Sydney Harbour, Pittwater, Brisbane Waters and Lake Macquarie populations

<< Snowy River population of River Blackfish - Gadopsis marmoratus

<< Western population of Olive Perchlet - Ambassis agassizii

Critically endangered ecological communities

Critically endangered ecological communities face an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future as determined by the Fisheries Scientific Committee. An ecological community is eligible for listing as critically endangered if it has undergone an extremely large reduction in ecological function, geographic distribution or genetic diversity, and is affected by a threatening process.

<< There are currently no critically endangered ecological communities listed

Endangered ecological communities

Endangered ecological communities face a very high risk of extinction in the near future as determined by the Fisheries Scientific Committee. An ecological community is eligible for listing as endangered if it has undergone a very large reduction in ecological function, geographic distribution or genetic diversity, and is affected by a threatening process.

<< Lowland Darling River aquatic ecological community

<< Lowland Lachlan River aquatic ecological community

<< Lowland Murray River aquatic ecological community

<< Snowy River aquatic ecological community

Vulnerable ecological communities

Vulnerable ecological communities face a high risk of extinction in the medium term future as determined by the Fisheries Scientific Committee. An ecological community is eligible for listing as vulnerable if it has undergone a large reduction in ecological function, geographic distribution or genetic diversity, and is affected by a threatening process.

<< There are currently no vulnerable ecological communities listed.

Key threatening processes

Key threatening processes are threatening processes that, in the opinion of the Fisheries Scientific Committee, adversely affect threatened species populations or ecological communities, or could cause species, populations or ecological communities that are not threatened to become threatened.

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Threatened Species Day this Father's Day

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