17 May 2012

Dam fish

18/01/2012 9:39:00 a.m.

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The fish ropes on the Korokoro Stream.

The fish ropes on the Korokoro Stream.

NO, they don’t have invisible claws, but fish can climb.
Climbing ropes for fish have been installed in the Korokoro Stream and yes, they use their fins to climb them. But the ropes aren’t there just for exercise. Russell Bell of Forest and Bird says it’s hoped they will allow native fish to get over the dams on the stream that are currently preventing them from travelling upstream and migrating.
“The dams are quite high, and at the top they have a lip which means it’s hard for fish to get over,” Bell says.
The decision to trial fish ropes on the stream follows a study by Dr Mike Joy of Massey University. Joy looked at the best rivers in the Wellington region and what made them healthy, sustainable and suitable for fish. The Korokoro stream scored highly. It’s clean and healthy, but the structure of the dams meant the fish were in trouble. Two different options were considered, creating a bypass on the river or using climbing ropes.
“We could have decided to create a bypass, but we thought we would try the rope first. It is only a couple of bucks per metre, and only took about two hours to install.”
The rope used is mussel spat rope – also used to anchor boats.
Bell says the ropes are to be trialed until the end of this month and regular monitoring of the stream is taking place to see how successful they are. However, he says even if fish are using the ropes they will only assist native fish.
“Trout can’t climb, simply because they have never had to, Native fish are quite special. They’re unique because they think in the way they are in their natural environment.”
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Cover Story

Best of Wellington 2011

Briefs

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