Gavin Butler is a Senior Research Scientist with New South Wales Fisheries Department of Primary Industries and is team leader at the Grafton Fisheries Centre facility located on the North Coast of NSW. Gavin is part of a large dynamic team of 50 researchers and technicians that work within the Freshwater Ecosystems group of the departments Fisheries Research branch. He has worked on freshwater and estuarine fishes for over 20 years and specialises in the protection and enhancement of some of Australia’s most threatened species. His research interests include age and growth, reproductive behaviour, larval ecology, biotelemetry, flow ecology and habitat selection of fish. His research into understanding the reproductive ecology of eastern freshwater cod and Murray cod is considered ground-breaking and brought about a change in the way Australia’s cod species are managed. Gavin will present some of this long-term research and place this in the context of the effects of human disturbance within the aquatic landscape.