The New Zealand Fish Passage Guidelines 2018: Rising To The Challenge Of Reconnecting our Waterways

Many of New Zealand’s freshwater fish undertake significant migrations as part of their life-cycle. Instream structures, such as culverts, weirs and dams, can delay or prevent fish movements, reducing the distribution and abundance of some of our most iconic and valued freshwater species. Conventional approaches to designing instream infrastructure emphasise hydraulic conveyance at the expense of providing for ecological connectivity. To safeguard our aquatic biodiversity and maintain ecosystem health it is essential that this design philosophy shifts towards a situation where providing for ecological function and maintaining instream processes is central to the infrastructure design process.

All instream structures have the potential to adversely affect aquatic habitats and stream biota, but careful and considered evidence-based planning and design can be used to minimise these potential impacts. The 2018 New Zealand Fish Passage Guidelines set out best-practice approaches to designing and installing instream structures, and managing and fixing existing migration barriers, based on current state-of-the-art knowledge. It is the first comprehensive national guidance document addressing fish passage management in New Zealand and has been developed for an audience of engineers, ecologists, managers and policy makers.