The Murray-Darling Basin Authority commenced a project in 2003 to improve fish habitat along a 194 km stretch of the Murray River between Lake Hume and Lake Mulwala, with the aim of increasing fish numbers. Over 24,000 structural woody habitats were removed from this section of the Murray River between 1976 and 1987, and surveys in 2004 showed that only 5,000 remained. It was also found that that there was a low abundance of native fish in this part of the river in comparison to neighbouring and less disturbed sections. The project involves restoring submerged woody habitats (a process known as resnagging), and to date over 4500 large ‘snags’ have been put back into the river. In conjunction with the resnagging works program, fish are being monitored to see if there will be an increase in numbers. Although previous studies show that native fish will utilise restored woody habitats, it is unclear whether this leads to an increase in breeding success or just an influx of animals from nearby.

Organisation	Victorian North East Catchment Management Authority, NSW Department of Natural Resources, NSW Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries), Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment, and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Contact	Jarod Lyon, Department of Sustainability and Environment Arthur Rylah Institute, ph. (03) 9450 8600 Email: [email protected]
Funding Body	Murray-Darling Basin Authority The Living Murray program