OzFish Unlimited - Central Coast Chapter

29/07/2026

🐟🌿 Help us tackle litter on the Central Coast 🌿🐟

OzFish is inviting volunteers to join us for a litter clean-up and training opportunity as part of the NSW Key Littered Items Study (KLIS).
This important data collection helps us understand what litter is ending up in our local waterways and assess the success of litter reduction projects, including tangle bins, pop-up education activities and other habitat protection efforts.

When: Wednesday 12 August, 10:00am–12:00pm
Where: Picnic Point Reserve, The Entrance
Meeting point: Boat ramp near the skatepark

We’ll provide morning/afternoon tea, friendly company and the chance to make a real difference for our local waterways and fish habitat.
Interested in coming along or want to know more? send us a message on here or email [email protected] to sign up!

Better habitat. Better fishing. 💙

26/06/2026

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of hosting Prof Kirsten Benkendorff, Dr Matt Landos and Dr Ben Diggles in Lake Macquarie, who taught us about impacts on water quality and how we can all get involved.

As Dr Ben put it "Much like the air that we breathe, clean water is the life sustaining ingredient that underpins the survival of fish and countless other species that comprise healthy aquatic ecosystems."

There are a wide range of factors that can ultimately lead to things like declining fish stocks, fish kills, black water events, and more. All these things can be prevented or fixed but first we need to determine the cause and come up with an action plan. "You can't manage what you don't measure- Peter F Drucker", a quote Dr Matt left us with, a simple reminder of the importance of data.

Prof Kirtsten showed us some of the sites and sampling she has already undertaken and the data was astonishing! You can really learn a lot about an area just by looking into what's in the water through a few simple measuring tools.

Do you have thoughts around some specific locations that need monitoring or have unexplained issues?

This is part of a workshop series occurring across NSW, with the goal of setting up water quality testing locations at your favourite fishing locations. If you are interested, please get in contact or attend a workshop to find out more! Email [email protected]

If you missed this one, no worries! There are 4 more meetings occurring (share with anyone that might be interested) and there's an online event too! And of course lot's of time to ask questions and pick their brains so definitely jump on. Here is the link

Across NSW, many waterways are in poor health, experiencing declining native fish stocks, algal blooms, fish kills and more.

17/06/2026

Just how healthy is your local waterway?

Join OzFish and a team of fish health and water quality experts at Lake Macquarie Landcare, Booragul on Wednesday, 24 June at 7pm for a conversation about the future health of our waterways here on the NSW Central Coast.

A panel of experts will discuss the challenges facing our rivers, lakes and estuaries, their impacts on local fisheries – and how we can turn things around.

The free two-hour community event will feature talks by Dr Ben Diggles from DigsFish Services, Southern Cross University's Professor Kristen and Dr Matt Landos, Director of Fresh By Design's Future Fisheries Veterinary Service.

And because nobody knows a waterway better than the people who spend time on it, we'll also be inviting attendees to share their local knowledge and firsthand experiences in an open floor discussion.

To register for this event, or find out more visit: ozfish.org/NswCommunity4cc321

Also – if you haven’t already, complete our NSW Water Quality Survey: ozfish.org/survey Your observations could help shape future restoration efforts, PLUS put you in the draw to win one of two BCF $100 gift cards.

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

It’s the Small Chnage for Big Change weekend at BCF across Australia. Get into your local store and help us restore fish habitat across the coast.

23/05/2026

What an incredible result for this year’s Carp to Croc Competition! 🎣🐊

With 150 competitors taking part across the Central Coast, an amazing 456 carp were removed from our local waterways — helping improve the health of our rivers and lakes while supporting our local environment.

Even better, around half of the carp caught are now being put to good use as feed for the Crocodiles and Alligators at the Australian Reptile Park! A fantastic example of sustainability and community collaboration in action.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated and helped make the event such a success. Special thanks to:
👏 Central Coast Council and Mayor Lawrie McKinna
👏 BCF Australia — especially the Tuggerah and Erina stores
👏 Australian Reptile Park

Your support, coordination, and commitment to our environment and community made this event possible.

Congratulations to all the prize winners!

We’re already looking forward to next year! 💚

Central Coast Council BCF - Boating, Camping, Fishing Australian Reptile Park

15/05/2026

Perfect morning for cleaning up Pearl Beach and installing some tangle bins.

04/05/2026

Please join us as we clean up Pearl Beach on May 16. All the details and to register in the link below. Hope to see you there!

Did we mention we will be providing a sausage sizzle and some soft drinks as a thank you!? We'll have a few stalls set up on the day where you can learn

04/05/2026

Is there someone in your chapter who quietly gets it done? Shows up early. Stays late. Puts fish first.
Now’s the time to call them out (in a good way).

Our OzFisher of the Year nominations are OPEN

This is your chance to recognise the legends who make a real difference to our waterways, whether they’re planting trees, restoring habitat, running events or just always there when it counts.

✔️ Any OzFish member can nominate another member
✔️ You can nominate across any chapter in Australia
✔️ Categories include National, Junior and State/Territory awards
✔️ Winners announced on 20 May during National Volunteer Week

If someone deserves a bit of the spotlight, this is it.

👉 Nominate here: https://ozfish.org.au/ozfisher-of-the-year/

Nominations close 13 May. Don’t sit on it.