Full Title
Construction of a bioenergetics model for Murray cod
Student
Nick Whiterod
Supervisors
Paul Humphries (Charles Sturt University), Robyn Watts (Charles Sturt University), Todd Wallace and Shaun Meredith (MDFRC)
Funding Body
Mallee Catchment Management Authority
Duration
April 2006 to April 2009
Outcomes
PhD
Whiterod, N. (2006). The bioenergetics of Murray cod: A review of literature. Draft report prepared for the Mallee Catchment Management Authority, October, 47pp.
Summary
Fish bioenergetics allows us to determine the optimum habitat and feeding requirements of fish at an individual species level. Bioenergetics models have been used to manage fisheries throughout the northern hemisphere for 20 years, however currently there exists only one parameterised model for an Australian species – the carp gudgeon (Hypseleotris sp.). The application of this gudgeon model showed that it could accurately predict changes in the habitat used by different life stages of fish in a Queensland reservoir.
Similar outcomes would be possible through the application of such a model for Murray Cod. Further, the model could be used to critically examine why Mullaroo Creek represents such an apparently ideal system for cod spawning and recruitment, and would allow us to optimise habitat conditions for cod in other sites within the Murray Darling Basin. The model is species specific, and would be applicable across the whole range of Murray Cod distribution, allowing for management at the population scale.
