What are the impacts of habitat loss on native fish in NSW?
The main threat to the health, abundance and diversity of fish in NSW is the destruction of their habitat. Habitat loss, in conjunction with other factors, has severely depleted our native fish numbers. In the Murray Darling Basin, for example, fish communities are estimated to be 10 % of the pre-European settlement level and without intervention will be as low as 5 % within 40-50 years. 97 % of total river length in NSW has been modified in some way signifying that 50 to 80 % of the animal species have been lost[1]. We know from historical records and oral histories that even 30 years ago, fish were far more abundant and there was greater diversity throughout inland and coastal NSW.
