The Waterbirds, Wetlands & Rivers Research Lab, in conjunction with the Fisheries & Marine Environmental Research Facility (FAMER), at the University of New South Wales, has received funding to build a new electrofishing boat.

The new vessel will boost research programs being run in the two labs, including fine-scale responses of fish to environmental flows in arid-zone rivers and wetlands, such the Macquarie Marshes, and Australian Bass stocking and monitoring in coastal NSW. It may also be used for studies of electrofishing methods and effects on fish, plus external contract projects in the future.

With such a diverse range of projects in mind, we’ll need a shallow-drawing hull that can still deliver plenty of power and be used in the more open waters of the State’s larger impoundments. We’re thinking of either a flat-bottomed punt similar to NSW DPI – Fisheries’ PoleVolt&lt or a v-nosed flats boat like those used in the Florida Keys to chase Tarpon. An electrofishing boat built around the latter platform would probably be a world first.

An aluminium cat hull could be a seriously fast and effective electrofishing platform. Image: www.flatscat.com

Colton Perna, from the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, will be advising the research team throughout the build and Dr Alan Temple, an Instructor at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center, will visit UNSW in September 2009 to conduct an electrofishing  training course. The course will be open to all fisheries research and management professionals in Australia and NZ, with further details to be posted in the next couple of months.

Popularity: 78% [?]