THERE is light at the end of the tunnel for the endangered tandanus or eel-tailed catfish.
Last month Victorian Recreational Fish teamed up with the Victorian Fisheries Authority, Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority and the Casterton Angling Society to catch more than 80 catfish on the Glenelg River and release them into the Little Murray River, 400km to the north.
Following a serious blackwater event last year the population of this species, which is endemic to the Little Murray River, was severely impacted.
The blackwater took an extra toll on the catfish, already considered critically endangered in the Murray-Darling system.
The species is abundant but not endemic to the Glenelg system and VRFish chairman Rob Loats said it was unclear how the species entered that river.
“The catfish that arrived were really beautiful and the water here is very good at the moment,” Mr Loats said.
“We are looking forward to them settling in and breeding next year to help recover the ones that died.
“It is going to take a fair while for the population to recover.
“The fish that were caught and transported were a good size and ideal for breeding.”
Catfish do not lay a lot of eggs and build a nest of gravel that they guard until they hatch.
The catfish collection was so successful that the fisheries authority, Casterton Angling Society, Glenelg Hopkins CMA and VRFish will likely continue the initiative next year, to rebuild more populations of catfish in northern Victoria.
In addition to catfish, anglers removed 405 carp from the Glenelg River and caught and released large numbers of estuary perch, blackfish and tupong.
Fifty-nine anglers from five fishing clubs took part in the collection.
