IN 1929, Popeye the Sailor made his comic debut in America. That was the same year populations of a small native Australian fish with a similar name as Popeye’s girlfriend were last recorded in Victoria.
The olive perchlet is a small floodplain specialist fish that was once widespread throughout the Murray-Darling Basin.
Unlike Popeye, the olive perchlet wasn’t strong enough to deal with its enemies – predation by introduced species, habitat degradation, cold-water pollution from reservoirs, and degraded wetlands.
As a result, it was declared officially extinct in Victoria in 1988.
But a combined effort from organisations across three states is bringing the olive perchlet back to central and northern Victorian wetlands.
The Tri State Alliance Mid Murray Floodplain Recovery Reach Program, funded by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and Victorian Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action, together with SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium have released olive perchlet in dams with suitable habitat in Bendigo and Mildura.
The Tri State Alliance brings together seven natural resource bodies along the Murray from Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia, including the North Central and Mallee Catchment Management Authorities.
SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium obtained broodstock from New South Wales DPI Fisheries and have been rearing them up as part of the same program that saw the southern purple spotted gudgeon, better known as the zombie fish, reintroduced into Victorian wetlands.
The Alliance and SEA LIFE led the stocking of the aquarium-bred olive perchlet into surrogate wetlands on March 17, with help from SuniTAFE, the City of Greater Bendigo, and OzFish Unlimited.
North Central CMA project manager Dr Peter Rose, who is also the Tri State Alliance’s Mid Murray Floodplain Recovery Reach coordinator, said the sites were carefully selected, “having no exotic fish species, permanent water supply, and enhanced habitat (aquatic plants and woody habitat added) to give the species the best chance of thriving”.
“We expect the fish to breed at these sites and be part of the long-term plan to re-stock the species into restored floodplain habitats throughout the Murray corridor where the species used to be prolific,” he said.
“After the initial success of the zombie fish program in Bendigo and Mildura, we’re looking forward to seeing yet another important small native fish thriving in our region’s wetlands and rivers.”
SEA LIFE Melbourne curatorial displays supervisor Sam Fawke leads the aquarium’s olive perchlet and southern purple spotted gudgeon breeding programs.
“It’s amazing to see the olive perchlet released into the surrogate wetlands,” he said.
“After receiving the fish from NSW Fisheries, we were able to create an optimal environment to rear the fish while also educating our visitors about the importance of wetland conservation.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Tri State Alliance to bring more native fish species back from the brink of extinction.”
