One of Phil Laycock’s earliest memories is catching his first fish on a family trip to the mouth of the Barron River. Phil has spent his whole life fishing in the Wet Tropics and now, in his role as a project manager with OzFish, he’s living the dream, improving fish habitat in the heart of Cairns.

Through the Saltwater Creek Restoration Project, Phil and the OzFish team are working to improve habitat in Saltwater and Lily creeks by revegetating creek banks, managing weeds and removing litter. They are also installing fish-friendly culverts and rocks ramps to help fish migrate between wetlands and upstream locations.

“As part of the project, we’ve been hosting regular citizen science monitoring events with the community, and to date we’ve found 61 different fish species in these two creeks,” Phil says. “There’s an incredible diversity here — they’re definitely not just drains full of tilapia.

“In addition to recreational fishing favourites like mangrove jack, barramundi and jungle perch, we’ve recorded seven species of gudgeon, Roman nose gobies and the eastern rainbowfish. We even collected some blue eyes, a small native fish with the most beautiful bright blue eye.”

Historically, the Saltwater Creek catchment was rich in wetlands, lagoons and sand ridges but post war expansion brought large scale drainage works and channelised waterways, resulting in fragmented fish habitat.

Today, Saltwater and Lily Creeks are impacted by nutrient runoff, invasive weeds, litter and pest fish including tilapia — all of which affect water quality and habitat health.

Phil says these urban creeks play a crucial role in the lifecycle of popular recreational fishing species, including mangrove jack.

“Every time we come down here — whether we’re using cameras, scoop nets, or electrofishing — we find juvenile mangrove jack ranging from under 50 millimetres to about 200 millimetres,” he says.

“It really highlights how important these urban waterways are. Those little jacks will eventually make their way into Trinity Inlet, where they can grow to around 500 millimetres. The more fish that successfully migrate there, the better the fishing is for everyone.”

“Projects like this offer recreational fishers a chance to actively get involved in protecting the nursery habitats that underpin strong fish stocks and healthy waterways.”

Get Involved

OzFish welcomes community members keen to help with planting, weeding, litter clean ups and fish monitoring. To get involved, follow ‘OzFish Unlimited – Cairns Chapter’ on Facebook or check the event calendar at https://ozfish.org.au/events/

This project is funded by the Australian Government’s Urban Rivers and Catchments Program with the support of OzFish Unlimited, Cairns Regional Council, Creekwatch, and Gimuy Walubara Yidinji and Yirrganydji Traditional Owners. The project is also supported by BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.