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About the plan

Handfish are small, colourful, relatively sedentary, benthic fish that prefer to 'walk' on their pectoral fins rather than swim. These pectoral fins are hand-like, hence their common name. Four species of handfish are listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act):

• Spotted handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus)
• Red handfish (Brachionichthys politus)
• Waterfall Bay handfish (Sympterichthys sp. [CSIRO #T1996.01])
• Ziebell's handfish (Sympterichthys sp. [CSIRO #T6.01])

All of theses species of handfish are endemic to Tasmania.

The recovery plan addresses the statutory requirements of the EPBC Act. It identifies targeted actions that will assist the recovery of the species. The recovery plan is supported by a non-statutory, peer reviewed issues paper which describes the biology, threats and conservation status of the species.

Download the recovery plan

These documents are available as PDF files. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file.

• Download Recovery Plan for four species of handfish - (4-handfish.pdf - 77 KB)
• Download Issues paper: Population status of and threats to four handfish species - (4-handfish-issues-paper.pdf - 290 KB)

If you are unable to access these documents, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.