OzFish Unlimited - Clarence River Chapter

14/06/2026

Saturday mornings working bee crew pulled out some common and not so common invasive w**ds on our Carrs Drive saltmarsh site . Can anyone name them? 🌿🌼

13/06/2026

13/06/2026

The Clarence crew smashing out today's working bee at one of our saltmarsh sites in Yamba! 💪🌿
We got stuck into removing invasive w**ds and clearing out rubbish to help our saltmarsh thrive. A big thank you to everyone who gave up their Saturday morning to make a real difference. 👏
If you missed out this time, no worries! Our next working bee is on the 11th of July. Spots are limited, so get in quick for a fulfilling morning with great people doing important work for our saltmarsh 🌱👇🏻
https://ozfish.org.au/event/clarence-saltmarsh-working-bee-jul-2026/

11/06/2026

And that's a wrap on another epic weekend with chapter members spanning far and wide to meet on the Upper Richmond River in NSW.

It kicked off with a yarn from Githabul man - David Welsh, followed by riverbank tree planting, a Pimp My Jetty construction demo, and finishing the day with water bugs as ratings for water health. To top it off, we mastered plant ID whilst wandering through a riparian zone and remnant within the Border Rangers. 🌳

New friendships were formed, even after some healthy competition during our trivia and carp comp with some winners taking away some great little prizes. 🎣

05/06/2026

The BCF Grafton crew are getting ready for Small Change 4 Big Change, with a goal to raise $500 for fish habitat this weekend. Head down for some gear and donate to OzFish to help us out!

03/06/2026

POV with the OzFish Clarence River Chapter removing invasive asparagus w**d from a Yamba saltmarsh site.

01/06/2026

For National Reconciliation Week, the theme this year is ‘All In’, and nothing shows that better than our Clarence River saltmarsh partner project with Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.

Across four sites in Yamba, we’ve been working with and learning from the Yaegl crew to restore important saltmarsh and mangrove habitat with waste removal, w**ding, monitoring and native seed dispersal.

These ecosystems provide shelter to juvenile fish, a feeding ground for many popular recreational fish species, and are a prawn-production powerhouse.

Along the way we’ve learnt from Yaegl Traditional Owners about the cultural history of the sites, and which fish, birds, shellfish and more used to be abundant here, so we can restore these habitats as best we can.

To learn more about this project, check it out here https://ozfish.org.au/projects/clarence-saltmarsh-nsw/

09/01/2026

⚠️ Feedback wanted on Everlasting Swamp project!

The NSW Government has developed a proposal for restoring water flows in Everlasting Swamp and Sportsmans Creek in Lawrence. The proposal provides several options and is now open for community feedback, with submissions closing on 31st January 2026.

🔗 Read more and provide feedback here:
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/water/coasts/blue-carbon-strategy/everlasting-swamp-restoration-project

Everlasting Swamp used to be a productive estuary wetland system with towering mangrove forests and lush saltmarsh providing critical feeding and breeding grounds for prawns, crabs, bass, flathead, bream, and waterbird populations.

Due to historic works to drain the wetland and alter natural flows, fish and estuary flows are blocked from moving upstream. Draining and drying of the wetland has exposed acid sulfate soils that leech into the river and contribute to acidic water conditions that result in fish kills throughout the Clarence River. The now-altered vegetation can also break down during wet conditions contributing to deadly blackwater events that can also result in fish kills—like we’ve seen recently in 2025, 2024 and 2023.

OzFish supports the restoration of coastal swamps, they are the engine-room for fish productivity for estuaries and near-shore reef species. These proposed changes will restore as closely as possible the natural hydrology (water movement) to these sites in the best interest of the river. OzFish supports the transition back to wetland being facilitated by this project.

Please read the proposal and submit your feedback to decide which options feel right for you.

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/water/coasts/blue-carbon-strategy/everlasting-swamp-restoration-project

ℹ️ Additional resources.

For some additional information, there are some videos and links on Everlasting Swamp, as well as similar wetland habitat projects that explain these impacts and the goals that might be useful.

🔗 For information on the benefits of mangrove and saltmarsh: https://ozfish.org.au/unpack-habitat/

▶️ "Wetland Worriers" short film by Duncan Leadbitter on acid sulfate soil impacts in Northern NSW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie9yScyDFJs

▶️ Habitat offset case studies including Ballina, Clarence and Coffs Harbour (featuring Everlasting Swamp):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crxTCrTpZrg

▶️ Everlasting Swamp presentation by Professor Scott Johnston, Southern Cross University:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGwfWdZtJSU

▶️ Recorded OzFish talk on blackwater causes and fish kills from the Tuckean Swamp, which faces similar impacts in our neighbouring Richmond River: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GgOzxJxae0

🔗 OzFish saltmarsh restoration project in the Clarence River:
https://ozfish.org.au/projects/clarence-saltmarsh-nsw/

18/12/2025

Thanks to everyone that made it to our final event for the year - a good old BBQ and fish on the Clarence with all the fun fishy chats in between 🐟

An even bigger THANK YOU to every one of you that helped restore fish habitat and improve the health of the might Clarence this year 🤩

The clarence chapter dedicated a whopping 1,737 volunteer hours to fish habitat in the last financial year, through clean-ups, w**d removal, water quality and saltmarsh monitoring, educational awareness events and everything in between🫶

The aspirations are bigger and better for 2026 with the crew talking oysters, seagrass, 'pimp my jetty' and of course continuing to look after our beautiful saltmarsh and mangrove habitats ✊

16/12/2025

Yesterday, OzFish, Bellingen Shire Council and the Ngiyambandigay Wajaarr Aboriginal Corporation rangers joined forces to plant 540 native trees and grasses along the Kalang River ✊

This marks the first stage of our planting, which will see a total of 1,655 native plants and grasses in the ground to:
🐟Increase fish habitat
🌱Stabilise the riverbanks
💧Improve water quality

We’ll be back for another planting session in early autumn next year - stay tuned for details and get ready to lend a hand!

To find out more about this exciting project 👉https://ozfish.org.au/projects/kalang-river-restoration-reach-nsw/

Funding for this project was provided by the Recreational Fishing Trust and Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Flagship Fish Habitat Action Grants Program, and is supported by Bellingen Shire Council, and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.