A NSW Government website

Bermagui River

Our water quality monitoring program has shown the Bermagui River estuary to have excellent water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.

Bermagui River is a barrier river estuary with an open, trained entrance. It is located on the far south coast of New South Wales and flows next to the town of Bermagui and into the sea at Bermagui Point.

The Bermagui River estuary is popular for activities such as boating, fishing and kayaking. It is also commercially important for oyster farming and marine operations at the Port of Bermagui.

Water quality report card

As part of our water quality monitoring program we assess the water quality and ecosystem health of an estuary using a range of relevant indicators. We sample a subset of the estuaries between Wollongong and the Victorian border every 3 years. The most recent sampling in the Bermagui River was completed over the 2023–24 summer, when 2 sites were sampled on a monthly basis.

This report card represents 2 water quality indicators that we routinely measure: the amount of algae present and water clarity. Low levels of these 2 indicators equate with good water quality. The numerical scores for these 2 indicators are averaged to give the overall grade.

A

Algae

A

Water clarity

A

Overall grade

The report card shows the condition of the estuary was excellent with:

  • algae abundance graded excellent (A)
  • water clarity graded excellent (A)
  • overall estuary health graded excellent (A).

Grades for algae, water clarity and overall are represented as: 

  • A – excellent 
  • B – good 
  • C – fair 
  • D – poor 
  • E – very poor.

Go to estuary report cards to find out what each grade means, read our sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols, and find out how we calculate these grades.

A view of Bermagui River flowing past the town of Bermagui and into the sea at Bermagui Point

Aerial view of Bermagui River

Seafood harvest area status

The NSW Food Authority website lists the current status of oyster/shellfish harvest areas(link is external).

Local government management

Local councils manage estuaries within their area. Where an estuary is attached to a marine park, marine park management teams are responsible for ensuring compliance with marine park zoning.

Bega Valley Shire Council(link is external) manages this estuary.

Threatened species

Saltmarsh, mangrove and seagrass communities occur in the Bermagui River estuary.

Find out more about plants in our estuaries.