Clare Weir is located on the lower Burdekin River some 50km from the river’s mouth. Nearly one-third of Australia’s 230 native species of freshwater fishes are found in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region. Many of these fish need to migrate in order to survive and reproduce. Structures like culverts, causeways, weirs and dams prevent fishes from migrating. SunWater provides ‘fish traps’ for fish like Barra to migrate up river.
Colin Bendall from SunWater is explaining to Scotty how the fish traps take the fish from the low level at the bottom of the weir and elevates them to the top so that they can continue their journey up stream. The Clare Weir is an automated weir and the floodgates can open without warning, meaning anglers looking to fish need to stay 200 metres away from the weir, read the signs and stay safe around SunWater dams and weirs!
