By JONATHON HOWARD
CAPTION: FISH hotels to increase aquatic life were lowered into the Condamine river by a team of workers including biologist Andrew Norris, data fish coordinator Greg Ringwood, fish docking president Roger Martin and project manager Kevin Graham.
NATIVE fish in the Condamine catchment will soon be living it up in five-star accommodation telling tales of how they got away, thanks to the innovative work of Condamine Alliance recently.
Constructed on the banks of the Condamine River in Queens Park, the ‘fish hotels’ and ‘cod holes’ were installed at various points along the river.
This work was the start of a long-term plan to improve the health of the river throughout the Warwick region, which will also include tree planting.
Condamine Alliance Fish Hotel project manager Kevin Graham said the makeshift fish hotels provide homes for our native fish; giving them somewhere to live, breed and feed.
“In the past we have relied on snags in the river to provide homes for our native fish, but with the increasing in clearing (of trees) over the years there are no longer enough large trees becoming snags so our fish need an extra hand,” he said.
“All of the materials to date have been donated and we acknowledge the ongoing support of Queensland Rail who have donated old railway sleepers and Toowoomba Regional Council for donating cement culverts.”
The structures were weighted with cement sleepers across the bottom with a total weight of nearly two tonne meaning the hotels were designed to stay put even during the biggest flood event.
The fish hotels are being constructed by the YWCA in Toowoomba who have been working on this project with their Work for the Dole program, funded through Max Employment, giving skills and experience to those who have been long term unemployed.
“We are excited to be a part of this project as it allows our team to contribute to something meaningful for our environment and it will be a project they can follow into the future,” YWCA’s John Tulley said.
“The team has enjoyed learning more about the habitat of native fish and can’t wait to see the fish hotels get into the river.”
Along with the fish hotels, numerous cod balls will also be installed along the river, made out of donated cement culverts and plastic barrels.
The culverts are filled in at one end and placed just under the surface along the edge of the water and will be a popular spot for the icon Murray Cod to breed.
Smaller fish will also be given special treatment with a number of small structures attached within the fish hotel to give them much needed safety from larger predators.
