Ipswich in Autumn - 2025

Ipswich is now home to a thriving population of native cod for the first time in more than 100 years, demonstrating Ipswich City Council’s commitment to healthy river systems. Tens of thousands of Mary River Cod fingerlings have been released into Ipswich creeks and rivers since 2020. The most recent release in December 2024 saw about 8,000 fingerlings released at numerous sites across the catchments, including the Bremer and Brisbane rivers, and Warrill and Bundamba creeks. Recent monitoring has found healthy Mary River Cod, including one measuring 60 centimetres believed to have been NATIVE COD SWIMMING IN IPSWICH AFTER 100 YEARS

Juvenile cod are released into the Ipswich river system

released in 2020, showing that the program is achieving its aim to boost fish diversity in Ipswich waterways. Mary River Cod are an apex predator and grow to more than a metre in length, and importantly they can stifle the reproductive abilities of exotic fish including tilapia, carp and mosquitofish. This initiative has been supported by the Council of Mayors (SEQ) Resilient Rivers Initiative, and coordinated by the Somerset and Wivenhoe Fish Stocking Association.

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