Summary
Brown Bullhead Catfish were detected and confirmed in Te Weta Bay in March 2016. LWQS do not want these pest fish in our lakes, they compete with trout and Koura for food, muddy the sediments and occupy the shallow waters. They have established throughout the Waikato river catchments and Lake Taupo.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council are responsible for their containment and eradication. They have employed an intensive netting programme and contained the majority with a cordon across Te Weta Bay. To December 2017 some 3575 have been netted, over 90% have been from within Te Weta Bay, the balance in the north-western portion of the lake along its shoreline. Experimental work is being undertaken with an acoustic tag, these are being checked at the Waikato University for retention and if successful will allow the monitoring of habits over the next year. Further work is being undertaken on pheromone baits and net configurations.
LWQS has strongly advocated for catfish eradication and at our “Trouble Makers” Symposium headlined them as the lead topic.
Resources
Summary of the impacts and control methods of Bullhead Catfish- June 2019
A literature review was undertaken for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to report the known impacts that Brown Bullhead catfish in New Zealand and to present the methods of control with their level of success of those attempted.
Catfish Incursion Response - 27th September 2018
Monitoring Update and Communications. Shane Grayling - Biosecurity Team Leader - Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Regulatory Approaches for Pest Management - 27th September 2018
Council’s biosecurity objectives and aspirations. Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Invasive pests in the Rotorua Lakes - 27th September 2018
Presentation includes Rotorua lakes pre-invasion, what are the current pests, where are they, what are their impacts, how do they spread and proactive management. Paul Champion and Tracey Burton - NIWA
Preventing the Spread of Fresh Water Pests - 27th September 2018
Effective decontamination protocols for preventing the spread of freshwater pests. Tracey Burton - NIWA
Catfish out of the Bag - Trout and Koura Threatened - Response Inadequate - 1st April 2018
The BoP Regional Council effort to control and eradicate the catfish incursion in Lake Rotoiti has lacked urgency and funding.
Catfish Numbers Explode - Media Release - 26th March 2018
The predatory pest species has spread and increased in numbers in Lake Rotoiti and now pose a real threat to other waterways.
