A “fish HIGHWAY” will soon be completed on a section of Six Mile Creek in Redbank, giving the various species access to pass through a weir.
Large ridge rocks, medium cascade rocks and smaller pebbles are being carefully placed under the watchful eye of an aquatic ecologist as work gets started on the 20m rock ramp fishway at Redbank.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the fish ladder would improve connectivity and habitat availability to aquatic wildlife in the region.
“Building a rock ramp fishway will allow fish to move freely up and down Six Mile Creek and over the weir that is currently inhibiting movement,” Cr Harding said.
“By using a rock ramp rather than a concrete structure, it will act like a natural stream environment providing aquatic wildlife – including fish, turtles and platypus – a relatively natural passage with pools, runs and rapids. Rock ramp fishways provide connectivity allowing native fish to move freely to upstream habitats allowing them to flourish.”
Cr Harding said large numbers of native Australian fish needed to travel between the salt water and fresh water to complete their life cycle, including bass, mullet, cod and some Guggeon.
“Because of this, a number of these species are not found in creeks and rivers with barriers in them” she said.
“Removing barriers and improving habitat as well as stocking efforts will hopefully see them return in numbers to the likes of Six Mile Creek and in turn reduce numbers of pest fish.”
The work on constructing the fishway will continue throughout May under the supervision of an aquatic ecologist and once the fishway is completed the area will be revegetated with native plants.
