DESCRIBING the sight of hundreds of thousands of dead fish at Kangaroo Lake as “emotional”, VRFish chair Rob Loats wants to ensure something like this never happens again.
Among the blanket of fish, many believed to be bony bream and European carp, were Murray cod measuring more than a metre long.
“It’s pretty emotional to see iconic Murray cod like that dead,” Mr Loats told The Guardian.
“The question that needs to be answered is, is this a result of filling Kangaroo Lake with nutrient-rich black water that led to a large blue-green algae outbreak when both Murray Rivers were subject to fish kills from black water?”
Goulburn-Murray Water delivery services general manager Warren Blyth told The Guardian they were aware of the fish deaths at Kangaroo Lake and had operational staff out to inspect the site.
“Testing of water samples has confirmed the water was deoxygenated,” Mr Blyth said.
“Deoxygenated water can occur naturally, often due to changes in temperature. The impact of floodwaters is still prevalent in the area, and the presence of blue-green algae are also contributing factors.”
When blue-green algae decomposes it can cause depleted water oxygen levels, which caused fish to die.
While GMW was unable to confirm the exact number of fish deaths, locals who surveyed the area were speculating it was more than 200,000.
After also seeing the devastation in the Darling-Baaka River in Menindee in far west NSW, with hundreds of thousands of dead fish discovered last week, Mr Loats believed more needed to be done to try and stop possibly avoidable mass fish deaths.
“VRFish calls on all water management agencies and governments to take native fish kills seriously and, where possible, implement actions to prevent this occurring as frequently as it is currently occurring,” Mr Loats said.
“The socio-economic value of recreational fishing and fish needs to be recognised in the water act and managed appropriately.
“We’ve only ever thought about delivering water, and that’s very important for irrigators and stock and domestic, but we need to consider fish more highly.
“Flood mitigation should always consider the value of our iconic native fish, especially the Murray cod and creating refuge for them.
“We have to consider at the time all possibilities to ensure future generations can observe and enjoy all our native fish have to offer.”
GMW said they will monitor the location for further fish deaths and continue collecting water samples to test for any further changes.
