Fishways (or fish ladders) are simple structures that allow fish to move past physical barriers in rivers and creek. Fishways are commonly used in Victoria to provide fish passage past man-made structures such as weirs, dams, floodgates and roads. Many of Victoria’s native freshwater and coastal fish species need to migrate during their lifecycle. Dights Falls is considered one of the most significant in-stream barriers to native fish passage in Victoria due to its location at the bottom of the Yarra River basin. A rock-fishway constructed in 1993 is now largely ineffective and studies have found that poor fish passage at Dights Falls has impacted native fish numbers and diversity upstream. Works are being undertaken to replace the ageing Dights Falls Weir and build a new fishway on the Yarra River in Abbotsford. The construction of a new and improved vertical slot fishway at Dights Falls is expected to benefit up to 2,000 kilometres of the Yarra and its upstream tributaries, boosting native migratory fish numbers and species diversity.

Organisation	The Waterways Alliance, a pertnership between Ecodynamics, Fulton Hogan, SMEC and Melbourne Water
Contact	Melbourne Water Ph: 131 722 (within Australia)
Funding Body	Melbourne Water, Victorian Government