Continuation of the Macquarie perch translocation monitoring program

An on-going regulatory requirement for Icon Water relating to Commonwealth Conditions of Approval for the Enlarged Cotter Dam (ECD) is a research and monitoring program for the translocation of Macquarie perch.
Macquarie perch is a listed endangered freshwater species under both the Nature Conservation Act 2014 (ACT) and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The ECD inundated the original spawning locations of this only viable population of Macquarie perch in the ACT, free of the epizootic haematopoietic necrosis (EHN) virus. The translocation project is a long term project of the University of Canberra (Institute for Applied Ecology). Seven years of translocations and monitoring have been completed. To meet the Commonwealth approval condition ongoing monitoring is required. Further translocations may also be required as an alternative sustainable population has not yet been established.
This fish translocation initiative aims to move (and/or extensively monitor) healthy fish from the ECD to other locations in the ACT to help re-establish other viable populations of this species. At the end of the contract period, it is expected that the services will be consolidated with the ECD Fish Monitoring program, which is currently contracted to the University of Canberra to June 2023 without further options for extension.