You may be aware that I produce a sporadic YouTube podcast called Rheophilia, interviewing (mostly) Australian river scientists about their lives, careers and their science. Some colleagues and I published a paper recently advocating for a new discipline in river science, called Flood Ecology. Our paper was the Editor’s Choice paper for Volume 74, Issue 6. Click here for the link to the paper. James Verdier, Senior Editor at BioScience Journal, interviewed me as part of their BIOSCIENCE TALKS. The paper was co-authored my me, Elle Wohl, Angelo Agostinho, Keller Kopf, Nicole McCasker, Peter Moyle and James Thorp. In the interview, Jaames and I discuss a range of issues associated with floods, the somewhat conflicted relationships humans have with floods, why floods are so important to the ecology of river floodplain ecosystems and what a discipline of ‘Flood Ecology’ might do to help with understanding and management of these events. You can find the interview on Rheophilia here, or go to BIOSCIENCE TALKS.
Around the mid-1960s, the Boolarra strain of the common carp (aka European carp, Cyprinus carpio) escaped from Lake Hawthorn, near Mildura, into the Murray River. It had earlier been bred at the Boolarra Fish Farms, but a Victorian Government enquiry in 1962 declared it noxious. People were not allowed to keep the fish, and all individuals had to be destroyed. A huge effort was made, as part of the Victorian Department of Fisheries and Wildlife’s Carp-Kill program, to kill all existing carp. More than a thousand dams were poisoned. But, ultimately, the attempt at eradication failed.
In 1963, carp were found in Yallourn Dam in Gippsland, and within a year, they were discovered to have made their way into a number of other dams and streams in the Latrobe Valley. Carp had got away. But worse was to come.
In 1967, carp were reported to be in large numbers in Lake Hawthorn near Mildura on the Murray, where they had been stocked some years before by a person who had wanted to breed them there. And what was worse, they had escaped via a channel into the Murray River. Within only a few years, carp had spread downstream and upstream in the Murray, and eventually throughout much of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Published papers and reports document the spread of carp from the late 1960s, but the details on where and when they were first sighted in the rivers of the Murray-Darling or elsewhere for that matter are pretty sparse. Newspapers have been digitised by Trove at the National Library of Australia up to 1954, after which copyright issues have prevented further digitisation. The few newspapers that have been digitised for the 1960s and 1970s, like the Canberra Times, are great sources of information about the spread of carp. But they are few and far between.
I have found anglers to be the most useful sources of information about fish generally. They keep their eyes open when they’re fishing and see what is really going on in the rivers, lagoons and lakes. And newspapers often published the results of fishing competitions. The Victor Harbour Times, for example, has reports of when carp first became part of the catch in competitions in the Lower Murray, taking over from catfish, callop (yellow belly) and Murray cod. But, like the Canberra Times, the Victor Harbour Times is one of the few papers that has been digitised during the time that carp were expanding their range.
I am looking for any information from the 1960s and 1970s from Murray-Darling rivers, and coastal catchments in all states of Australia, that will give us a more detailed idea of the spread of carp from one year to the next. The information is for a chapter of the book that Katie Doyle and I are writing, called Carp in Australia. The information may come from records of fishing competitions, or from newspapers that people may have lying around, or from your observations if you were around at the time. I have created a Facebook group called ‘Tracking a CARPtastrophe‘, where people can post any information they may have. If you have any information that would help, post a comment on the Facebook page. We would be most grateful.
Some colleagues and I (Paul Humphries) have recently published a paper in the journal BioScience, entitled ‘Flood Ecology’, which advocates for a coordinated focus on the roles of flooding in the ecology of river ecosystems. We consider Flood Ecology to … Continue reading →
What do you win: a paperback copy of my new book, The Life and Times of the Murray Cod, by Paul Humphries
It retails throughCSIRO Publishing at AUD$59.99, although you can get it at many book stores, like Collins Bootstores, The Flyfisher, Dymocks and online at Amazon and Booktopia and others, at a considerable discount. There are hard copies and electronic copies available.
What you need to do to win a copy: in the comments to this post, tell me in 100 words or less what it is that you love about the Murray cod. It can be anything you like: history, ecology, fishing, conservation, eating, etc. It is completely up to you.
Closing date and rules of the competition: Thursday 30 November at midnight. No entries after that date will be accepted. I will judge the entries myself. My decision will be final, and no negotations will be entered into. I will contact the winner to organise postal delivery. Competition is only open to residents of Australia (otherwise the postage is going to be too much!). There is no age limit. Strictly only one application per person.
Peter Davies is a Tasmanian freshwater scientist, who spends half of each year in southern France. Originally an organic chemist, since graduating from his PhD, he has been a biologist at the Tasmanian Inland Fisheries Commission, run his own freshwater consultancy, advised state and federal governments and reviewed many of their environmental programs and collaborated on diverse research projects with Australian and international scientists. He has also combined his passions for conservation, art and science through a range of projects, the most recent a collaboration with his partner, Lynn Davies. We talk about all of this and more in this interview, which I enjoyed very much. I must declare that Peter and I have been friends for a very long time, and this will undoubtedly have influenced our discussions – it certainly allowed me to tell a few embarrassing stories of some of the times we shared. I hope you enjoy it
Announcing my forthcoming book The Life and Times of the Murray Cod, CSIRO Publishing in May 2023 and available for pre-order now.
The Murray cod is Australia’s largest and most iconic freshwater fish. Tales of the species have long been part of Australian folklore and this book describes its history, biology, cultural significance and conservation.
The Life and Times of the Murray Cod reveals the many roles the species has played throughout the history of the continent, from its place at the heart of the Aboriginal creation story of the Murray River, its role as a food source for explorers surveying inland Australia in the early 1800s, to it forming the basis of a commercial fishing industry up to the early 2000s.
Living for upwards of half a century and growing to astonishing sizes, today the Murray cod is a hugely popular target for recreational fishing, but its future is anything but assured. In the face of climate change, river management and fishing pressure, much needs to be done to ensure this extraordinary fish swims confidently into the future.
The Life and Times of the Murray Cod draws on historical, anecdotal and scientific sources to reveal what makes this remarkable species so special, and will appeal to fishers, natural resource managers, conservationists and any reader interested in natural history.
To see details of my other book, The Ecology of Australian Freshwater Fishes, edited with Keith Walker follow this link.
My latest interview was with Professor Barb Downes about her life, studies, research and career in river ecology and academia. We discuss how she was inspired by her love of birds growing up in Adelaide, and then went on to study parasites in reptiles and later, as part of her PhD, in freshwater mussels in Florida. She talks candidly about the trials and tribulations during her Masters and PhD, her return to Australia and shift in focus of her work with Sam Lake at Monash University and later at the University of Melbourne. She has had an impressively productive research career in stream ecology (mostly on macroinvertebrates but also fish and even plants) and, as a lecturer at all levels of university, she has been a supervisor and mentor to many Honours and post-graduate students. It was a real pleasure to catch up with Barb and to hear what inspired her as a young student and what continues to inspire her today.
It was an absolute pleasure to talk with Professor Barry Hart about his childhood growing up in Bairnsdale, what inspired him to become a water scientist and how he and his wife, Margaret, raised four children, while Barry studied for a PhD and taught part time. We discuss how he went against the flow and set up the Water Studies Centre at what was then Caulfield Institute of Technology to carry out applied research in freshwater systems. We trip through his time at Monash University and his role in helping establish the Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, and I ask him what motivates him to keep working in water management and policy after so many years. Barry also gives me his insight into what he considers are the major issues facing Australia’s freshwater ecosystems now and in the future. Thanks for a great chat Barry.
With a slight departure from strictly focusing on freshwater, I talk with Professor Heather Goodall about how her research and interests in environmental history, and especially the central roles that fresh-, salt- and brackish-water have played in it all. She explains the origins of her interest in history, and chronicles her research on, and collaboration with, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in inland and coastal, and urban and rural settings. We discuss the cultural significance of fish and rivers of the Murray-Darling, in her collaboration with Jodi Frawley, Scott Nichols and Liz Baker on the Talking Fish project, as well as her enduring environmental, historical and cultural interest in the Georges River. And I was especially keen to learn of Heather’s work with, and appreciation of, Isabel Flick, the renowned Aboriginal rights activist and community leader. It was a delight to talk with Heather.
In my first interview for 2021, I talk with Professor Andrew Boulton – probably best known for his work on the ecology of intermittent streams and the hyporheic zone (that cryptic environment within the wetted sediments of many streams and rivers) and his co-authored textbook Australian Freshwater Ecology – about the origins of his love of aquatic ecology, his obsession with temporary waters, a Eureka moment during his post-doc in Arizona, the many collaborations with Australian and international freshwater scientists, editing a scientific journal, and how work keeps falling out of the sky, even after ‘retirement’ aged 47. It was an absolute pleasure to catch up with him and chat about his career, his science and the serendipitous nature of life and work.
This site and blog is mostly about the science of rivers, although it will include cultural aspects of rivers when they catch my eye and take my fancy. It will highlight ideas, concepts and research of interest to students, researchers and managers.
Comments, corrections and additions are encouraged.
River Ecology and Research 