The Ovens River native fish “demonstration reach” is one of several being established across the Murray-Darling Basin to focus on restoring native fish and endangered habitats.

Yesterday members of the project’s taskforce were inspecting work already started along the Ovens River at Wangaratta.

The taskforce is made up of many areas including fish scientists, DSE employees and workers from the Arthur Rylah Institute, a freshwater ecology group that does scientific monitoring and research.

The chairman of the community stake-holder taskforce of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s native fish strategy, Adrian Wells, said some willow trees and other exotic trees had been removed as they proved to impede on the native fish.

“Research also shows that by placing stumps and logs back into the stream bed that they provide a place for fish to live and breed,” he said.

The project will use the best knowledge to implement and then showcase the benefits of rehabilitating native fish habitats.

It is a partnership project between the North East Catchment Management Authority, the Department of Sustainability and Environment, the Arthur Rylah Institute, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the community.

North East Catchment Management Authority’s water programs acting manager, Robert Steel, said the public played a large role.

“One of the components will be to work with community to remove carp from the streams,” he said.

“We are looking to community engagement, so the community can catch and eat the carp but release the natives back in to the stream.

“We are also looking in to funds for electro-fishing.”