The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has released the initial findings from the first year of the three-year temporary fishway trial at Menindee, revealing 7,505 fish moved through the innovative Fishheart technology between February and April 2025.
DPIRD Director Freshwater Fisheries & Threatened Species Cameron Lay, said that native fish moving through the temporary fishway can migrate upstream to find new homes, more food, and spawn and recruit in the Baaka River and beyond, helping to reduce the biomass in the Menindee town weir pool.
"Ninety-six per cent of fish identified travelling through the unit were native species, dominated by Bony Herring – a key totemic species for the Barkandji people – which tallied more than 2,400 fish. Other species identified include Golden Perch, Spangled Perch, Carp and Goldfish," Mr Lay said.
"These results are extremely promising given this is the first time this technology has been trialled under Australian conditions on our native inland freshwater fish – especially at this scale.
"There's still work to be done as the unit was only installed in January 2025 and operated for a short period for its first season.
"We are hopeful that its second year of operation will produce even better results."
The Fishheart unit was removed from the river for its 'off season' in May 2025 to undergo maintenance and upgrades to the camera system, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and internal lighting arrangements to help with fish identification and counting.
Year 2 of the three-year trial is planned to operate from September 2025 to April 2026 and will capture the spring-summer peak fish movement times.
The next year of the trial will cover:
- Continued monitoring and evaluation, including the opportunity for community internships to gain hands-on experience on fishway operations and checking how well fish locate and use the fishway to make sure they aren't harmed while passing through it.
- Exploring Carp removal options as part of the Fishheart technology, in discussion with community and business opportunities.
- Building the community engagement and involvement in the trial with opportunities for community open days, continued artwork collaboration and hands on experience.
The Menindee temporary fishway trial is part of a suite of measures funded under the NSW Government's $25 million Restoring the Darling-Baaka River program, to address the recommendations of Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer (OCSE) following the March 2023 mass fish death event at Menindee.
