1000 Australian Bass Rescued Near Bega

[Ken A]

About 1000 Australian bass were rescued on Tuesday (25 October) by NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and State Water from a pool of water that had formed just below the spill way of the Brogo Dam wall near Bega.

NSW DPI Fisheries Officer Southern Zone Steve Church said Batemans Bay Fisheries office had received a call from State Water to say that the bass had become trapped in the pool as the water level receded in the river below the dam wall.

They were mature bass migrating upstream in the Brogo River, a catchment of the Bega River, and many of them weighed a kilo or more.

‘The bass would most certainly have died from lack of oxygen and over crowding if we did not take action quickly,’ Mr Church said.

‘I was joined by three Fisheries Officers from Eden - Sarah Nolan, Ian Merrington and John Staines, DPI Aquatic Ecosystem Researcher John Pogonoski and DPI Senior Fisheries Manager Inland Cameron Westaway to mount a rescue operation.

‘Peter Clemson and James Faiers from State Water were also a great help on the day assisting to both catch and transport the fish.

‘We dived with snorkels to establish the number of bass involved before using a small meshed hauling net to drag them without injury up to the shallow end of the pool.

‘The bass were then scooped up into a large plastic container before being transferred by bucket brigade to nearby waters that flow into the Bega River.’

Before release, 155 of the fish were weighed and measured individually for research purposes.

‘The bass rescue is a big bonus for the breeding population as well as recreational fishers,’ Mr Church said.

Media contact: Sarah Chester on 02 6036 2110 or 0417 207 669.