Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00106:body:0:p29
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00106
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 77488–80297

Creek catchment in Victoria, which flows into the Upper Murray River, after about 1920 (Trueman 2011). This trend appears to be consistent with records further downstream, within the Murray River and creeks near Burroweye and Towong, where recordings of Macquarie perch seem to decline until the 1930s (Trueman 2011). The exception seems to be Mannus Creek, where it appears a population of Macquarie perch have persisted and were rediscovered in early-2017 (Long 2017). Downstream on the Upper Murray River near Albury, the species was common in the late-1920s but underwent a dramatic decline shortly after that time (Trueman 2011). In general, very few historical records exist for native fish in the montane zone of the Upper Murray River (upstream of the Tom Groggin campground which is close to the New South Wales-Victoria border within the New South Wales' Kosciuszko National Park) (Trueman 2011). Much of the Upper Murray River occurs within the slopes zone. Macquarie perch abundance has been estimated at the time of European settlement for the Upper Murray River catchment as: abundant in the slopes zone, and; common in both the upland and montane zones (Trueman 2011).
SRA1 and 2 recorded no Macquarie perch in surveys at 21 sites across the Upper Murray River catchment both in 2005 and 2008 (Davies et al., 2008; 2012). SRA rarity scores for the species in the catchment were: common in the slopes zone; occasional in the upland zone, and; rare in the montane zone (MDBA 2017).
The middle or Central Murray River catchment, stretching from Wentworth in the west (very near to the the confluence of the Murray and Darling rivers) to Albury-Wodonga in the east, is unusual for assessment of Macquarie perch abundance, as this part of the river is entirely zoned as lowland for purposes of Trueman's 2011 analysis. Historical research indicates a consistent trend of the species' decline in abundance occurring during the 1930s and becoming severely 'depleted' by the 1950s (Trueman 2011). The species had completely disappeared from most of the Central Murray River catchment by the 1970s (Trueman 2011). The stretch of river between Tocumwal eastwards to Yarrawonga was an exception where the species was common until about 1950, then declined in abundance until they had disappeared in this area by the end of the 1980s (Cadwallader 1977; Trueman 2011). The estimate of Macquarie perch abundance at the time of European settlement for the Central Murray River catchment were rated as: rare in the Murray River between Wentworth eastwards to the Wakool River confluence; common between the Wakool River confluence eastwards to Echuca (Campaspe River confluence); abundant between Echuca eastwards to Albury-Wodonga in these lowland zones of the Murray River (Trueman 2011). SRA1 and 2 recorded