Two tales of fish: the value of multiple sources of knowledge for the assessment of environmental flow requirements of fish in the Daly River

Although there is growing interest in the water resources of Australia's northern rivers, we currently have limited capacity to predict the consequences of altered flow regimes on aquatic plants and animals. We have recently completed a project to quantify the environmental flow requirements of fish in the Daly River that will contribute to water allocation planning in the wet-dry tropics. The broad aims of the three year project were to investigate variation in fish distribution and ecological requirements in the Daly River and improve wider understanding of the social and cultural significance of fish to Aboriginal people in the region. This information was combined to produce models relating fish ecology and flow to assist decision-makers in making environmental flow allocations for the Daly River A central feature of the project was the collaboration between research scientists and Aboriginal traditional owners and the project used both the new and existing western scientific data and Indigenous ecological knowledge to evaluate the outcomes of changes in dry season flow regimes on fish in the Daly River. This paper discusses the benefits and challenges of using multiple sources of knowledge in environmental flows research.