The study has been instigated by the Steering Group Committee in response to comments regarding perceived threats such as coastal development and over-fishing in the Woongarra Marine Park. Certainly, changes in some marine habitats by factors such as high sediment run off from land based activities and rivers can lead to changes in the fish population. In a recent study undertaken by the Queensland Museum on intertidal fish and their ranges, it was noted that habitat degradation might be a serious future concern for the Woongarra Marine Park.

But what do you survey?

There are a number of surveys and fish census techniques available. Some techniques look at “indicator” species or species that may indicate the presence or absence of environmental pressures, some focus on gaining an overall census of all the fish species in an area, others tie into larger programs such as Reef Check that are used to assess the overall health of reefs and the abundance of organisms on them – including corals, fish and other organisms.

Not all surveys are suitable for volunteers and no one monitoring technique will tell you all the information that you may want to know.

For this reason, we will be reviewing, discussing the merits and ultimately testing the various techniques available with the research, management and indeed other community organisations that are undertaking fish monitoring before committing the volunteers to a program in 2003.

In the meantime, we hope to build up a core group of volunteers that are interested in Woongarra’s fish, and through field days and workshops, build up their identification skills until they feel confident to take on Fish Focus.

This means staring with the basics . . .

What is a Fish?

Fish belong to the vertebrates (Chordata) or animals that have a backbone. This phylum has five main groups, which are the fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. But did you know that there are as many species of fish (~22,000) as in the other four groups combined?

Most fish live in water, breathe by means of gills, possess a scaly body and swim and manoeuvre themselves using their fins.

Marine mammals such as whales and dolphins, and invertebrates such as the starfish, crayfish and cuttlefish are not fish.