A new state-of-the-art tube fishway technology called the “Fishheart” has been launched at Menindee Lakes, located on the Baaka-Darling River, New South Wales.

The technology – part of the NSW government’s Restoring the Darling-Baaka program – will allow native fish to move past large barriers, such as dams, weirs and regulators, when they need to. It’s hoped this will help the fish reproduce and survive, and reduce the risk of mass fish deaths in the Baaka.

At the same time, meaningful policy reform and implementation can’t be achieved without input from First Nations communities. So how do we do this? One creative collaboration on the Fishheart project suggests art may have a big role to play.

Several deeply distressing mass fish death events have occurred in the river since 2018, with millions of native fish, including golden perch, silver perch and Murray cod, dying due to insufficient oxygen in the water.

These events are the outcome of compounding challenges in managing the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia’s largest inland river system. The basin, which stretches from Southern Queensland to South Australia, is a water source for some

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