Priority management actions for alien freshwater fish species in Australia

In Australia, alien freshwater fish are continuing to steadily increase in number of species (reported in this paper to be 43), abundance, and distribution. In general however, their impacts are not well quantified in either environmental or economic terms and current management to reduce their impacts is limited and lacking direction. Although carp Cyprinus carpio have received some attention, very little is known about the impacts and even the distribution of most species. There is a lack of recognition of the problem, inconsistency in legislation, policy, and approaches across jurisdictions, and no nationally coordinated on-the-ground management actions. Where legislation and policy is available it is not always used to good effect. This paper provides a synthesis of existing knowledge of alien fishes in Australia, suggests a new management approach, and recommends priority management actions.