Holding a bag of fingerlings ready for release into the Bremer are, from left, Cr Jim Madden, Somerset and Wivenhoe Fish Stocking Association president Garry Fitzgerald and Resilient Rivers Initiative Director Jo Burton.
THE Bremer River is now home to a thriving population of native cod due to the work of the Somerset and Wivenhoe Fish Stocking Association and the support of partners such as the Ipswich City Council.
Environment and Sustainability Chairperson Cr Jim Madden said tens of thousands of Mary River cod fingerlings had been released into Ipswich creeks and rivers since 2020.
“This important work has only been possible through collaboration with Somerset and Wivenhoe Fish Stocking Association and other partners,” Cr Madden said.
“The most recent release in December 2024 saw about 8,000 fingerlings released at numerous sites across the catchments, including the Bremer and Brisbane rivers and Warrill and Bundamba creeks.
“There have been releases every year since 2020, including December 2023 when there were 18,000 baby cod released into local waterways.”
Cr Madden, who participated in December’s fish release into the Bremer River near Thagoona, said the benefits of the program were already becoming evident.
“Recent monitoring has found healthy Mary River cod, including one measuring 60 centimetres believed to have been released in 2020, showing that the program is achieving its aim to boost fish diversity in our waterways,” Cr Madden said.
“Mary River cod are an apex predator and grow to more than a metre in length, and importantly they can stifle the reproductive abilities of exotic fish including tilapia, carp and mosquito fish.
“There is evidence of decreased numbers of these noxious invaders in areas where the cod have established in Ipswich waterways.
“This is a huge step forward for the health of our river ecosystems.”
Cr Madden said Mary River cod are endangered and a protected species that must be released back into the waterway if accidentally caught.
“Unfortunately, the Brisbane River cod that originally inhabited the Bremer River were driven to extinction by early settlers of South East Queensland in the early 1900s,” Cr Madden said.
“More than 100 years later, the Bremer and Brisbane rivers and their tributaries in the Ipswich area are being restocked with freshwater cod.
“The recent heavy rainfall should help the new fingerlings by providing the conditions for them to have plenty of food.
