Two new fishways are being installed on a Coast creek to help native fish navigate weirs, which act as barriers to reaching breeding habitats.
The river ‘staircases’ are being built on Petrie Creek and will assist migratory species such as long-finned eels, Australian bass, freshwater mullet, sea mullet and empire gudgeon.
Manmade weirs at Quota Park and Moreton Central Sugar Mill in Nambour currently block fish from reaching important spawning and feeding grounds upstream.
Petrie Creek is about 30km long, with numerous tributaries feeding into it.
The two weirs only allow fish movement in an extreme rain event that causes them to flood. Council research shows this usually only happens on average 1.8 days a year.
This creates a problem for fish life cycles, as many native fish breed and feed upstream before moving to the open ocean to mature.
Staircase-like structures, made with rocks, will be retrofitted into the existing weirs allowing fish to bypass these barriers to access the entire waterway.
The project is funded by the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust under the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program and is part of the Reviving Petrie Creek initiative, which will also include work to manage weeds and litter and improve streambank vegetation.
Division 10 Councillor David Law said the project was set to bring new life to Petrie Creek.
“This fishway will revive native fish populations, improve the health of our waterways and inject more fish into our river system for recreational fisherman,” Cr Law said.
“It’s also good for other creatures like platypus, turtles and birdlife, which will have access to more habitat and food.
“If the weirs were removed completely, water levels would drop in the creek, disrupting the sensitive balanced ecosystem.
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Weirs aren’t built in creeks and river systems on the Sunshine Coast anymore.
The Quota Park weir was installed to create a body of water that would help to create a public park to visit, while the Moreton mill weir was built for the sugar industry.
Environment and Liveability Portfolio Councillor Maria Suarez said that when completed the fishways would be the first of a kind on the Sunshine Coast.
“This will open up the river system, benefiting fish, our environment and our community,” she said.
Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
