A net exchange aimed at phasing out illegal Opera House nets is being held at Felixstow today as part of efforts to reintroduce platypus into the River Torrens / Karrawirra Pari.
South Australians are urged to stop fishing with the illegal Opera House nets which were banned from July last year.
Green Adelaide and RecFish SA are hosting the exchange which will raise awareness about the ban and remove the illegal nets from the river system.
Opera-house nets pose a significant threat to air-breathing aquatic animals such as platypus, freshwater turtles and rakali (water rats).
The ban follows extensive research and consultation with the key recreational fishing stakeholder groups and brings South Australia in line with most other jurisdictions.
Platypus have been considered extinct to mainland South Australia since the mid 1970s but they remain on Kangaroo Island following a successful translocation program in the 1920s.
The exchange aims to fast-track removal of opera house nets to support Green Adelaide’s rewilding project.
A recent study identified the availability of macroinvertebrates for food, management tactics for predators, and the banning of Opera House nets among the positive conditions that would support the reintroduction.
Those who registered for the exchange will receive up to five pyramid nets which are deemed much safer for wildlife. The opera house net exchange is on Saturday 11 May from 10am until 1.30pm at Felixstow Reserve, beside the River Torrens / Karrawirra Pari.
Quotes
Attributable to Susan Close
These net exchanges are an important part of our plan to reintroduce platypus into the River Torrens/Karrawirra Pari and I applaud RecFish SA and Green Adelaide for the initiative.
This partnership between recreational fishers and ecologists encourages people to look after our rivers so we can continue to fish them without impacting other animals.
If we can successfully rehabilitate this iconic native animal, it will be one of the most significant rewilding projects undertaken in an urban waterway in Australia.
Attributable to Professor Chris Daniels, Green Adelaide Presiding Member
It’s vital to ensure all opera house nets are removed from the system to protect air-breathing aquatic animals, such as rakali (native water rat) and turtles.
The recent drowning of a rakali in an opera house net in SA presents an unacceptable risk to air-breathing animals.
Our opera house net exchange event serves as a reminder about the ban and provides an incentive to help get these lethal nets out of our rivers by replacing them with wildlife-friendly pyramid nets.
We know that the removal of these illegal nets will be key to enable the return of platypus to the River Torrens / Karrawirra Pari one day soon.
Attributable to Asher Dezsery RecFish SA Executive Officer
This this is the second exchange event, following significant attention from the recreational fishing community last year.
The high interest in exchanging opera house nets demonstrates that recreational fishers want to do the right thing.
This upcoming exchange event allows the banned nets to be swapped free-of-charge for a pyramid net.
The pyramid style nets have a large open section at the top, so they are effective at catching yabbies, but also allowing other wildlife to escape.
The old opera house nets will be collected for recycling.
