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Hilliards Weir: Hilliards Creek

April 10, 2018 by

Introduction
The remediation of Hilliards Creek weir with a rock-ramp fishway was undertaken in partnership between Redland City Council and Catchment Solutions. The relic weir on Hilliards Creek was ranked the 36th highest priority fish barrier in Greater Brisbane region. A fish passage options assessment determined that a full width rock- ramp fishway was the best fish passage remediation option for this barrier type in assisting fish to ascend pass the barrier.

Barrier Ranking 36th in Greater Brisbane region
Barrier Type(s) Surface drop barrier
Total Surface Drop 0.75 m
Best Remediation Method Full width rock- ramp fishway
Length of Fishway 18 m
Number of Ridges 9
Drops Between Pools 80 mm
Total Construction Time 4 days
Total Rock Used 205 t
Total Overall Cost $ 42 000
Hilliards Creek weir.
Figure 31. Showing the Hilliards Creek weir prior to fishway construction.

Construction of fishway at Hilliards Creek.

Fishway at Hilliards Creek.
Figure 32. Showing construction images of Hilliards Creek fishway.

Post Remediation Works

Following the construction of the rock- ramp fishway, monitoring was carried out in December 2016 to assess the capabilities of the fishway at passing the full suite of fish species and size classes expected to occur in Hilliards Creek. The fishway trap was set at the exit of the fishway on the upstream side of the crossing, to show the numbers and species of fish that were able to ascend the rock- ramp fishway. Across five days of monitoring, a total of 9 species were surveyed ascending the fishway, at an overall catch rate of 177.66 fish per day. The small size of fish (≥15 mm) that were successful at ascending the fishway indicates the fishway is operating as intended (small size fish are generally weaker swimmers  than adults, as they don’t possess the same muscle to propel them through the water). However, the numbers of fish migrating through this fishway were lower than other fishways constructed as part of this project. The lower numbers are due to a low passability fish barrier located downstream in Fellmonger Park (Figure 34).

The Fellmonger Park barrier consists of a raised pedestrian causeway with two small partially blocked pipe culverts buried underneath. This causeway is a major barrier to fish passage during all base, low and medium flow events. Only during very in-frequent ‘drown out’ events is fish passage potentially available past this barrier, but only if migrating fish are located below the weir at the time of ‘drown out’ and possess swimming abilities in-excess of the velocities experienced at the barrier site.

Boat electrofishing surveys were undertaken upstream and downstream of this barrier to detect any differences in fish community condition. The survey results demonstrated the barrier was significantly impacting upstream fish communities, with the catch rate (56.97 fish/min) of diadromous fish species downstream of the barrier more than four times higher than upstream of the barrier (12.37 fish/min) (Moore, 2017).

Table 1a. Showing fish species, size range and catch per unit effort of fish (fish/day) successful at ascending the fishway

Migration Classification Common Name Species Name Size Range

(mm)

CPUE

(Fish/day)

Diadromous Empire gudgeon Hypseleotris compressa 19- 81 18.22
Long-finned eel Anguilla reinhardtii 60- 800 1.08
Sea mullet Mugil cephalus 38- 51 15.62
Striped gudgeon Gobiomorphus australis 38- 51 1.3
Potamodromous Hypseleotris species Hypseleotris sp. 20- 43 77.44
Unspecked hardyhead Craterocephalus fulvus 20- 71 54.66
Pest Fish Mosquito fish Gambusia holbrooki 15- 35 8.68
Platy Xiphophorus maculatus 64 0.22
Tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus 329 0.22
Total Species and Overall CPUE 9 177.66
Empire gudgeon, striped gudgeon, sea mullet, tilapia.
Figure 33. Showing Hilliards Creek fishway monitoring catch results.
Matt Moore with tarpon and fish barrier.
Figure 34. Left; showing an adult tarpon captured immediately upstream of the barrier site post fishway construction. tarpon are a highly prized recreational fishing species, which breed in estuarine waters before migrating upstream into freshwater as juveniles. Barriers significantly impact the distribution and population of this species. Right; Fellmonger Park pedestrian causeway fish barrier. A Hilliards Creek fish community study found this barrier to be significantly impacting fish populations within Hilliards Creek , particular diadromous species.

 

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