May 202014
 

Original story by  Joanna Prendergast, ABC Rural

Moitoring ferals: Colin Johnson, from Durack Institute of Technology in Geraldton, with a fish trap he uses to monitor fish stocks in the Chapman River. Photo: Jo Prendergast

Moitoring ferals: Colin Johnson, from Durack Institute of Technology in Geraldton, with a fish trap he uses to monitor fish stocks in the Chapman River. Photo: Jo Prendergast

Researchers in Geraldton in Western Australia are targeting feral fish in local waterways.

Tilapia is a pest fish introduced to Australia and lives in numerous river systems in both Western Australia and Queensland.

Durack Institute of Technology researcher Colin Johnson is leading a program monitoring tilapia numbers in the Chapman River near Geraldton, by regularly placing traps in the water.

He says the fish populations are monitored to ensure the fish numbers don’t increase and threaten other nearby waterways.

“The main focus is to try and determine the range of pest species, which is the tilapia, within the Chapman River and to also see if it’s become established in the surrounding rivers,” he said.

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