There are many different on-ground recovery actions available to managers, but no synthesis of what, how or why these recovery actions have been deployed. A questionnaire was distributed to a variety of fisheries managers, researchers and private individuals involved with threatened fishes. Details of on-ground recovery actions since 1990 were sought, along with the reasons that initiated the action, and whether or not they had an associated monitoring program. Recovery actions were grouped into 12 categories with the most commonly utilised recovery categories being harvest control, translocation, habitat enhancement and stock enhancement. The number of recovery actions grew significantly in the decade beginning 2000 as the impacts of prolonged drought in southeastern Australia intensified. 58% of recovery actions occurred in the Murray-Darling Basin, although this region only holds 27% of the 74 listed threatened freshwater fish in Australia. Few or no recovery actions were reported for many species, and few actions occurred in northern or western parts of the country. More than 80% of recovery actions reportedly had some form of monitoring. The diversity of management interventions is reviewed, and patterns and issues identified to guide future recovery efforts.