Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00106:body:0:p27
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00106
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 72465–75198

the Macquarie River catchment in New South Wales until the 1950s but historical research indicates that the species had disappeared and become extinct in the catchment by the 1960s (Trueman 2011). The estimate of the species' abundance in the Macquarie River catchment at the time of European settlement were rated as: rare in the lowland zone of the Macquarie River catchment; common in the slopes zone, and; abundant in both the upland and montane zones of the catchment (Trueman 2011). SRA1 and 2 recorded no Macquarie perch in surveys at 21 sites across the catchment both in 2007 and 2009 (Davies et al., 2008; 2012). SRA rarity scores for the species in the Macquarie River catchment were: absent in the lowland zone; occasional in the slopes zone; common in the upland and montane zones (these zones were merged in the SRA analysis for the Macquarie River catchment) (MDBA 2017).
For the Lachlan River catchment, historical research indicates that Macquarie perch initially flourished in Lake Wyangala in the 1930s soon after its construction (Trueman 2011). However, the species experienced a decline in the Abercrombie and Lachlan rivers above Lake Wyangala in the 1950s and 1960s, while downstream of Wyangala Dam decline was noted in the 1930s (Trueman 2011). It is almost certain that the species is now extinct in the Lachlan River downstream of Wyangala Dam (Gilligan et al., 2010). The estimate of Macquarie perch abundance in the Lachlan catchment at the time of European settlement were rated as: absent from the lowland zone; occasional from the slopes zone, and; abundant from both the upland and montane zones (Trueman 2011). SRA1 and 2 recorded no Macquarie perch in surveys at 28 sites across the catchment both in 2006 and 2009 (Davies et al., 2008; 2012). SRA rarity scores for Macquarie perch in the Lachlan River catchment were: absent in the lowland zone; occasional in the slopes zone, and; common in the upland and montane zones (Davies et al., 2008; MDBA 2017). While Macquarie perch were not caught in the Lachlan River catchment during the SRA1 and 2 surveys (Davies et al., 2008), the species is known to occur in parts of the Abercrombie River (Pearce et al., 2017). The species has not been recorded in the Lachlan River upstream of Lake Wyangala since 2008 where it is now considered extinct (NSW DPI pers. comm., 2016; Pearce et al., 2017). There have been stockings of the species into the Retreat River betweem 2011–2014 and recruitment has been detected from these stocked individuals (Pearce 2013; Pearce et al., 2017).
For the Murrumbidgee River catchment, historical research indicates that for the majority of the catchment the Macquarie perch declined in abundance between the 1930s–1960s