Barramundi in Sydney Harbour - Australian Museum

Movie: Barramundi in Sydney Harbour

Description

A Barramundi, Lates calcarifer, swimming between floating pontoons around Sydney Aquarium, Darling Harbour, August 2009. The fish was in poor condition. It is unknown how this tropical fish came to be in Sydney Harbour.

Rights:: © Krystof Tichy, Sydney Aquarium

Last Updated: 18 March 2010

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2 comments

STAFF

Mark McGrouther
8.03 AM, 18 March 2010

Hi Sascha, That's amazing! I had no idea this was happening. Thank you so much for adding this information to the page. We are currently working on a fish blog to which I will be able to add 'stories'. This is the kind of information that would make a great post.

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EXPERT

Sascha Schulz
5.03 PM, 15 March 2010

I can answer this one Mark.

There were several Barramundi spotted, both on the south side near Rose Bay, in Darling Harbour and near Manly. Comparison of scale specimens from a fish speared in the harbour, with scales from shop bought fish suggested to me the Barramundi swimming around Sydney were originally from fish farms. But I had nothing to back that up at the time.

A month or two later investigations by NSW Fisheries revealed that local Bhuddists had been purchasing live Barramundi and other species from fish retailer and releasing them as an act of kindness.

Generous though this act seemed, these fish are not suited to our climate and would have perished after a short time. The people responsible were not charged with anything, but fisheries officers did explain about the risk of introducing parasites and disease to local waters, as well as the futility of the releases. Once this was cleared up the practice stopped.