Fish kills in Australia
Status: 03/18/2023 09:57 am
In the southeastern Australian state of New South Wales, millions of fish have died following flooding and high temperatures. Residents say the smell is unbearable.
Millions of dead fish are floating down the Darling River near the town of Menindee in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). According to media reports, authorities have confirmed that the fish kill dwarfs similar events in 2018 and 2019.
According to experts, the mass extinction is caused by low oxygen levels in the water combined with high temperatures. At the weekend it should be over 40 degrees Celsius in the region.
The Department for Primary Industries (DPI) in New South Wales said it would continue to monitor risks to fish health in the area. “This event continues as a heatwave in western NSW puts further stress on a system already facing extreme conditions from widespread flooding,” it said in a statement. “The amount of dissolved oxygen that water can hold decreases as the water temperature increases.”
“Imagine the smell when you put a dead fish in your sink and let it rot for a few days – but we have millions of them,” resident Graeme McCrabb told The Guardian. The smell is unbearable. McCrabb spoke of a “wall of dead fish”. Attempts to remove the rotting animals are doomed to failure simply because of the number of fish.
Residents have just started cleaning up following the floods, local resident Jan Dening told >. And then that happened. “You’re walking around in a parched mess and you smell that foul smell.”
Central Darling Shire Council said it was monitoring the water supply. At this point, there is no risk to water quality, it said in a statement.
New South Wales Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet said it was a very difficult situation. His government works closely with the community in Menindee. “We saw that the flooding had an impact not only on our roads but also on our river systems,” Perrottet said. “I think there is still a lot to do.” It’s a long-term challenge.
Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said she was devastated to see the pictures of dead fish. “We need to better understand the causes of these deaths in order to better prevent them,” she said.
There is a sense of hopelessness in the community, Menindee Local Aboriginal Land Council director Michelle Kelly told >. “The river is our elixir of life.” The community is still groping in the dark following the previous fish kills. Nobody knows what happened.
It is the third time that the Menindee region has been hit by a massive fish kill. The previous time in 2019, the cause was the lack of water in the river due to an ongoing drought and a toxic algal bloom. Even then, the New South Wales government warned that it would not be the last fish kill.
