TFSS Barrier Net

Richie Welham, Tom Gilmore (Member for Tablelands), Alf Hogan at the Opening of the

Lake Tinaroo Fish Barrier Net.

Lake Tinaroo is a multi-purpose impoundment on the Atherton Tablelands, approximately 1 hours’ drive southwest of Cairns.

• Irrigation water for various fruit, general horticulture, sugarcane, tea-trees and coffee
• Urban water supply for Tinaroo, Walkamin, Mareeba, Kuranda, Mutchilba, Dimbulah and Yungaburra.
• Water sking, sail boats, freshwater fishing.

At full supply level, Lake Tinaroo has a surface area of approximately 3,300Ha. and a volume of 438,000 megalitres. The shoreline length is about 220km.

The Lake has had a fish stocking program since completion in 1958. Both a community-based Fish Stocking Society and the DPI.

On April 9th, 1997, a $95,000 fish Barrier net was placed 800m upstream from the dam wall, to prevent fish passing over the spillway and being killed.

On April 20th, 1997, Mr. Tom Gilmore, the local member and Minister for Mines and Energy commissioned the net and handed it over to the local Tableland Fish Stocking Society to maintain and operate.

The net is 750metres long and approximately 40m at the deepest point. It covers the water column from top to bottom and all the way across. the mesh size is 55mm, which is too small to gill fish. The net has highly visible float line with floats at 5m intervals. Flashing lights mark the net at night. The net is not designed to catch fish but to protect them and the fishery.

The Barrier net will only be set when there is a likelihood of the dam overflowing.the net will be removed once the treat of overtopping has ceased.

Barramundi do the most damage when there is not a lot of water going over and they realise they made the wrong choice and try and swim back up, thus scaling. there have been times where there have been massive losses of fish over the spillway, Cyclone Joy in 1991 and December 2023. During the later, many Barra were seen below the spillway sulking in the shallows with damage to their scales and bodies. Many anglers took advantage to hook a barra along the Barron River for the next 12 months or so.

To date, Tableland Fish Stocking has records showing over 922,455 Barramundi, 1,250,635 sooty Grunter, 4,750 Mangrove Jack and 8,570 Redclaw have been stocked into Lake Tinaroo.

Barramundi sulking in shallows after December 2023 Overtopping. TFSS lost thousands of fish with this weather event as the Contractor-Uninet Cairns was unable to make it to the Lake due to landslides on the Ranges.

 

Repairs to Barrier net due to Boat damage to the top line and net.