Endangered Little Fish Get a Big Helping Hand in Tyers River

Forming strong partnerships to help heal and protect Country means more good work gets done than we can do alone.

That’s why we were very pleased to support our partners at the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) recently in a project to help bring back the endangered West Gippsland galaxias to a tributary of the Tyers River.

The West Gippsland galaxias is a small freshwater fish that grows to only about 8cm long, which unfortunately makes them the perfect sized tucker for introduced trout.

This galaxias is currently found only in a small tributary of the La Trobe River, north of Traralgon, and its population continues to be threatened by those trout but also sedimentation, bushfires and drought.

Now, people are giving the little galaxias a helping hand.

For the first time, the species has been successfully bred at the VFA’s Conservation Hatchery at Snobs Creek, and these fingerlings can now be put back into their native waterways.

Coordinated by DEECA’s Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI), last month a small population of galaxias were put back into a tributary of the Tyers River.

A couple of our GLaWAC crew from the west were there, On Country Ranger Coordinator Michael Welsh-Dalton, and On Country Ranger Kobi Cook.

The stocking was made possible thanks to funding from the Federal Government’s Saving Native Species Program.

“It feels good being a part of projects like this around and throughout Gippsland and Gunaikurnai country,” Michael said.

“It’s really special to me to be able to represent GLaWAC while working with our partners, and know that there are not only individuals but teams of people willing to stand up and advocate for the little guy, or in this case, the little fish.”

This project is part of VFA’s 10inTen conservation program, which aims to restock and recover ten of Victoria’s most at-risk aquatic species by 2034.

For information about the 10inTen plan, visit www.vfa.vic.gov.au/10inten