Key environmental criteria associated with the invasion of Anguilla australis glass eels into estuaries of south-eastern Australia

Abstract

Sampling for glass eels of the shortfinned eel, Anguilla australis, was conducted in a number of estuaries in south-eastern Australia using glass eel and stow nets during the winter and spring months of 1994 and 1995. Preliminary modelling of the invasion of A. australis glass eels was undertaken by determining correlations between Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) of glass eels and water temperature, electrical conductivity, lunar phase and height of high tide. Low (<10000 μS/cm) electrical conductivity, medium (10-14°C) water temperature and high (>0m AHD) tide height showed significant correlation with high CPUE, but lunar phase (as moon age in days) did not. There appears to be some scope for predicting the invasion of A. australis glass eels into south-eastern Australian estuaries using temperature and electrical conductivity as key criteria for determining when glass eel fishing should commence. Such information is expected to contribute to the development of a commercial glass eel fishery in south-eastern Australia.