Scientists’ fundraising appeal for rare handfish

They are among the rarest fish in the world – but a fundraising appeal to save it has fallen well short of its target.

The extremely rare red handfish, found in Tasmania. Picture: Rick Stuart-Smith.

THEY are among the rarest fish in the world – but a fundraising appeal by scientists to save Tasmania’s endangered handfish has fallen well short of its $2 million target.

So far, just $12,500 has been raised through a public appeal to save three species of handfish found only in Tasmania and that are close to extinction.

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Of that amount, $10,000 was a kickstart from the Tasmanian Government.

The disappointing total was revealed last week to a federal parliamentary committee looking into Australia’s extinction crisis.

Senior research scientist Tim Lynch, from Oceans and Atmospheric Business in CSIRO, told the committee the fundraiser launched in December “didn’t go particularly well”.

CSIRO Senior Research Scientist Tim Lynch researching the Spotted Handfish at Hobart. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

Dr Lynch said scientists put a lot of effort into trying to raise funds for the red handfish in particular, of which there are only about 70 remaining in two small locations in southeastern Tasmania.

“We have a recovery plan, but there's no budget attached to the recovery plan,” Dr Lynch told the committee.

“We launched a fundraising campaign last year, but we didn't get a lot of takers for that.

“There was quite a lot of interest, but there hasn't been a lot of money yet.”

Dr Lynch said the Federal Government contributed $50,000 towards helping to take eggs from the wild and raise an insurance population in captivity, but the wild population remained in grave danger.

“We only know them from two spots. They are very small areas – you’re talking a hundred metres – so if there were a calamity, someone sinks their yacht and there’s a pollution spill, we could lose them all.”

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

He said one of the biggest threats was the introduced Northern Pacific seastars, because they reduced habitat for handfish.

Yacht moorings were considered another significant threat, because the chains destroyed habitat.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said the three handfish species in Tasmania — red handfish, spotted handfish and Ziebell’s handfish — were struggling to compete against pollution, climate change and invasive species.

“The handfish is prehistoric, having existed for millions of years, and Tasmania is lucky enough to have the only known population left. We have a duty to the rest of the world to save this fish,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“Federal and state governments have responsibilities to fund species recovery plans, but the sad fact is they have never backed this commitment with sufficient, and consistent funding.”

Donations can be made at the Handfish Conservation Project website.