Marine Estate Management Strategy Reconnecting Fish Habitats

Fishway on a river showing water passing through a series of small steps, allowing fish to move upstream

This program provides funding from the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy to projects that improve habitat connectivity for fish in coastal waterways of NSW.

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Key information

  • Status: Ongoing
  • Grant amount: Up to $1,000,000
  • Application opened: 1 July 2022

Program objective

This is a closed, non-competitive grant program. It is managed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) - Fisheries and Forestry Division (DPIRD Fisheries).

This program aims to fulfil the Marine Estate Management Action 2.4: Re-establish resilient coastal floodplains and connectivity within coastal catchments by providing fish passage at priority weir and road crossing barrier sites in coastal catchments.

By addressing priority fish passage remediation sites, long-term sustainable benefits for native fish stocks, including threatened species, are achieved and in turn provide substantial benefits for NSW Marine Estate by restoring highly productive and resilient fisheries.

Funding is provided to projects that will complete or lead to on-ground actions at priority sites to improve access to coastal fish habitat.

This program is funded and administered by Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

Eligibility

Sites eligible for Marine Estate Management Strategy Reconnecting Fish Habitats program funding are generally drawn from a priority list of sites identified during an audit of coastal road crossings and weir structures as part of the following projects:

  • Reducing the Impact of Road Crossings on Aquatic Habitat in Coastal Waterways (2006)
  • Reducing the Impact of Weirson Aquatic Habitat NSW Detailed Weir Review (2006)

This priority list has been used as the basis for allocation of resources and effort by NSW DPIRD Fisheries, including the Marine Estate Management Strategy Reconnecting Fish Habitats project, to address road crossings and weir structures since then.

Assessment criteria for both road crossing and weir barriers included:

  1. Stream Habitat Value (stream class, location in the catchment, number of barriers downstream and amount of habitat that would become available upstream).
  2. Structure Impact (for road crossings if it was a physical, hydrological or behavioural barrier and for weirs, what hydrological impact it had in terms of structure height and how often it was submerged).
  3. Waterway condition (stream size, habitat quality, surrounding land use and presence of threatened species).
  4. Modification opportunity (if the structure was obsolete, how easy it is to remediate and if it was being used for other purposes that could make its remediation more difficult).

If a structure is located in good habitat, is closer to the estuary, and has fewer downstream obstructions, it will rank higher than one in poor habitat, with numerous barriers downstream and located higher in the catchment.

Structures with a High, Medium-High or Medium ranking are investigated for remediation.

Where sites are identified as barriers to fish passage, but were not included in the original priority setting, the above criteria are applied to determine its current priority.

Equally, where sites have been identified and prioritised, but there have been remedial works undertaken at surrounding sites since the initial prioritisation, then it is possible for a previously low priority structure to increase in priority.

Who can apply

This is a closed, non-competitive grant program.

The DPIRD Fisheries, identifies priority sites located within coastal waterways (those flowing eastward to the Marine Estate), develops a remediation proposal and approaches structure owners to determine their willingness to undertake remedial works.

Examples of structure owners are:

  • NSW local councils operating under the Local Government Act 1993
  • water management authorities
  • businesses
  • private individuals.

Who can’t apply

  • Individuals, businesses or agencies that do not own or manage a structure that is acting as a fish passage barrier.
  • Structure owners that own or manage a fish passage barrier that was originally prioritised, and continues to be prioritised, as a low priority site.

Types of projects funded under this grant

  • Removal of priority road or weir structures that are acting as fish passage barriers (where environmental and social conditions allow).
  • Replacement of priority road structures that are acting as fish passage barriers with more suitable structures (such as replacing causeways with bridges).
  • Construction of fishways at priority weir fish passage barriers.

What can’t you apply for

  • Costs that are not directly associated with the implementation or delivery of the project.
  • Regular management costs associated with structure ownership that should form part of a regular structure maintenance program.
  • Funding to carry out works on behalf of another structure owner (fees for service arrangements).

Example projects

  • Removal of redundant priority fish passage barrier (such as a weir or road crossing).
  • Replacement of fish passage barrier with fish friendly structure (such as a causeway removed and replaced with a bridge structure).
  • Fishway design and construction.

Most recent recipients

All recipients (2)

What your application needs to include

This is a closed, non-competitive grant program. Please contact the Reconnecting Fish Habitats project manager to discuss potential projects.

Where the structure owner is willing and able to project manage, DPIRD Fisheries will undertake further assessment including:

  • consistency of the proposal with the objectives of the grant opportunity
  • capability, experience and skills of the applicants
  • deliverability of the project, including demonstrating that the applicant has the capacity and expertise to deliver the project within budget and timeframes
  • technical aspects of the proposal – the infrastructure and technical capacity to fulfil the project requirements
  • financial arrangements
  • economic benefit
  • ability to demonstrate community support
  • geographical distribution of project/activity.

Structure owners will be requested to provide information to inform the above considerations.

 

1

Prepare your application with this checklist

Information that may be requested includes:

  • confirmation of structure ownership
  • estimated cost of proposed works
  • confirmation of ability to project manage works
  • preliminary environmental assessments (such as a bed level survey).
2

Address the eligibility criteria

Eligibility criteria include:

  • existing structure priority (High, Medium-High or Medium ranking are investigated for remediation)
  • the structure must be acting as a fish passage barrier
  • structure owner is willing and able to undertake remedial work
  • there is an environmental benefit to the remedial work, and the scale of such benefit.

 

3

Address the assessment criteria

Where the structure owner is willing and able to project manage, the following assessment occurs:

  • Is the project consistent with the objectives of the grant opportunity?
  • Is the applicant capable and experienced to undertake the work?
  • Can the project be delivered within budget and time frames?
  • Technical aspects of the proposal – the infrastructure and technical capacity to fulfil the project requirements.
  • Financial arrangements including potential for co-funding and leverage of grant funds.
  • Economic benefit.
  • Ability to demonstrate community support.
  • Geographical distribution of project/activity.

Start the application

This is a closed, non-competitive grant program. Please contact the Reconnecting Fish Habitats project manager to discuss potential projects.

After the application is submitted

Successful applications will be decided by: the Director of Marine Estate Management within the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Fisheries and Forestry (DPIRD Fisheries), following advice provided by Reconnecting Fish Habitats project manager.

Structure owners will:

  • enter into a Funding Deed which outlines the responsibilities of both parties, time frames for project delivery, milestone payment schedules, risks and indemnities and reporting requirements of the grant
  • as a condition of funding, comply with the reporting requirements set out in Schedule B of the funding deed. You must provide to the department an activity progress report associated with payment milestones indicating the status of all on-going and completed activities for the period to which the report relates
  • acknowledge the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy in project publications, media (including social media) and signage.

Support and contact

Phone: 0429 300 489

Email:  scott.nichols@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Program evaluation

The grant will be evaluated at the conclusion of works to ensure:

  • the grant has been administered in accordance with this grant guideline
  • all decisions in the decision-making process are documented
  • on-ground works funded provide benefit as planned - primarily the delivery of environmental benefits for the marine estate
  • the grant was processed in a transparent, timely and objective manner
  • funding deeds milestones are met and reported on.
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