{"id":825760,"date":"2026-07-26T22:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T22:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/825760\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T22:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T22:36:14","slug":"trout-free-havens-provide-hope-in-tasmanias-swan-galaxias-conservation-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/825760\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Trout-free havens’ provide hope in Tasmania’s swan galaxias conservation program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conservation efforts are paying off for a tiny native Tasmanian fish species but its main threat is introduced trout, which is prized by anglers.<\/p>\n

Tasmania has about 10 endemic galaxias, a type of freshwater fish found in the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n

One of these species, swan galaxias, has been deemed one of Australia’s most threatened fish “at imminent risk of extinction within the next 20 years”.<\/p>\n

There are about 6,000 individuals left.<\/p>\n

The conservation effort’s senior project manager Zak Wheaton said the species “holds a key in unravelling Tasmania’s genetic history”.<\/p>\n

“They’re a species that has split from its closest living ancestors five million years ago, so it’s a very interesting fish to understand how Tasmania has evolved over the last millions of years,” he said.\"A<\/p>\n

Swan galaxias are a small species of fish, endemic to Tasmania. (Supplied: NRM South)<\/p>\n

Mr Wheaton works at non-profit organisation Natural Resource Management (NRM) South, which has coordinated the swan galaxias program.<\/p>\n

In addition to the threat posed by introduced species, NRM South said increased droughts and floods induced by climate change had also worsened the species’ outlook.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Zak Wheaton says the project to increase swan galaxias populations has had some success. (ABC News: Glenn Dickson)<\/p>\n

A balancing act<\/p>\n

Trout \u2014 along with redfin perch \u2014 was introduced to Australia in the 1800s to make the landscape more familiar to European colonists. It now has self-sustaining populations.<\/p>\n

It is also the main threat for galaxias.<\/p>\n

Trout feed on small fish, insects larvae and frogs, and the species has already contributed to the extinction of one galaxiid species, the pedder galaxias, from its wild habitat.<\/p>\n

While redfin perch and some other invasive species are classified as pests and efforts are being made to eradicate them, trout is an entrenched part of fishing culture in Tasmania.<\/p>\n

The state’s Inland Fisheries Service (IFS), a state government body, stocks the species in Tasmanian waterways.<\/p>\n

Biologist Rob Freeman from the IFS, for whom fly fishing has also been a loved pastime, said the trout fishery had an economic benefit \u2014 particularly in places like Yingina\/Great Lake and Miena.<\/p>\n

\"Rob<\/p>\n

Rob Freeman says the Inland Fisheries Service understands the benefits of the trout fishery, but also has a role in conservation. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough\u00a0)<\/p>\n

“We [IFS] have to be very mindful that we have a substantial trout fishery that contributes to social wellbeing and economy, but we also have to wear that other hat of conservation as well,” Mr Freeman said.<\/p>\n

“We have to be very aware of any impacts that any sort of management regulations that we make, [and] how that may or may not impact on native species.”<\/p>\n

He said trout, being “highly invasive”, were near impossible to remove from areas they had come to occupy.<\/p>\n

But he said a growing awareness of the impacts of trout had led to more regulations.<\/p>\n

“Can we do better? We can always do better. But from what I have seen in the past, and to where we’ve arrived now, we’re basically worlds apart,” Mr Freeman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"White<\/p>\n

Swan galaxias have been listed as being at “imminent threat of extinction within the next 20 \u00a0years”. (Supplied: NRM South)<\/p>\n

Solution in ‘trout-free havens’<\/p>\n

With trout occupying most Tasmanian waterways, work to prevent the extinction of swan galaxias has focused on locations free of trout.<\/p>\n

“It’s more about protecting the areas that are trout free now, and putting a value on those areas because they are a crucial refuge for native species here in Tasmania,” Mr Wheaton said.<\/p>\n

Federal government funding for threatened species allowed the project to identify suitable translocation sites in Tasmania’s north-east.<\/p>\n

\"Zak<\/p>\n

Zak Wheaton and Rob Freeman are involved in the project to increase the numbers of swan galaxias. (Supplied: NRM South)<\/p>\n

In 2023, 180 individual swan galaxias were taken to three “trout-free havens”.<\/p>\n

Last month, “substantial” breeding and the establishment of new viable populations were reported.<\/p>\n

“It’s been really validating to go back to those translocated populations and see breeding fish,” Mr Wheaton said.<\/p>\n

“A lot of environmental restoration projects, you don’t get to see that sort of impact so soon, so it’s been really exciting to see that.”\"A<\/p>\n

Swan galaxias have been translocated to three trout-free areas as part of the conservation project. (Supplied: NRM South)<\/p>\n

More recognition of pests needed<\/p>\n

The Invasive Species Council said the results showed what could be achieved in conservation through a concerted effort, but that more work was needed.<\/p>\n

“We know that a lot of these programs face funding cliffs \u2014 they need ongoing monitoring and action by groups to ensure that these invasive species aren’t coming in and taking away those successes,” the council’s senior policy analyst, Claire Bookless, said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Claire Bookless says the impact of trout needs to be better recognised. (ABC News: Edoardo Falcione)<\/p>\n

The Tasmanian government released its draft threatened species strategy in May, but Ms Bookless said the document did not address the true impact of species like trout.<\/p>\n

“It doesn’t identify threats like these invasive freshwater fish as a key focus of the strategy,” she said.<\/p>\n

“What we really need is a strategy that identifies the threats and puts actions in place to really tackle them.”<\/p>\n

Ms Bookless said an option was to remove trout from specific locations, but this could be difficult because of their “pervasive” nature.<\/p>\n

“It would really take a strategic approach to ensure that that kind of effort isn’t going to be wasted,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We know that they can move between streams and often they can be moved by humans, so it takes a lot of community education to ensure that if they are removed from certain streams, they’re not placed back in there.<\/p>\n

“Tasmania has some incredible native species that are found nowhere else on earth; once they are gone, that is it. And it can have incredible consequences for our native biodiversity.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conservation efforts are paying off for a tiny native Tasmanian fish species but its main threat is introduced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":825761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,2929,8168,6349,398973,398974,128,398972,9525,28793,338],"class_list":["post-825760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-conservation","tag-fish","tag-fishing","tag-galaxias","tag-inland-fisheries","tag-science","tag-swan-galaxias","tag-threatened-species","tag-trout","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}