With the assistance of NSW Department of Primary Industries Fish Habitat Action Grants, MidCoast Council has been working closely with local landholders to solve riverbank erosion problems across the Manning River estuary and to improve habitat conditions for native fish.
2018/19 saw the construction of 1.3 km of rock fillets to protect our riverbanks at Lansdowne and on Oxley Island.
Rock fillets create mini lagoons that provide a sheltering environment for aquatic vegetation such as mangroves and saltmarsh to establish.
The immediate reduction of sedimentation performed by rock fillets also create an environment suitable for the establishment of seagrass communities.
Mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass vegetation are of paramount importance in providing habitat structure and ecological requirements for fish stocks in our estuary.
Hand in hand with riparian revegetation, landholders have also fenced off over 2.5 km of river bank and planted 3000 native trees.
Once established the root system of these trees will help bind the bank together creating further resilience against erosion and the insects that drop off these trees into the river will become an additional tasty resource for our fish.
The Fish Habitat Action Grants are funded from the Recreational Fishing Trusts with the purpose of on ground actions to improve fish habitat for recreational fishing in NSW.
This year’s work complements the 3.5 km of stabilisation and restoration works Council has undertaken in the Manning River estuary over the past 5 years.
Ongoing bush regeneration and weed maintenance will ensure the benefits of these works are sustained well into the future.