These fish deaths are related to low oxygen levels in the water (hypoxia) as flood waters recede,
the New South Wales government said
It’s surreal to comprehend,
he said, adding this year’s fish kill appeared to be worse than previous ones
There is a large number of fish deaths (predominantly Bony Herring) in the Darling River between Lake Wetherell and Menindee township,
the NSW Department of Planning and Environment's water division said on Friday
We are seeing tens of kilometres where there is fish really as far as the eye can see, so it's quite a confronting scene,
New South Wales government fisheries spokesman Cameron Lay told the ABC
It's horrific really, there's dead fish as far as you can see,
Menindee local Graeme McCrabb told AFP
The current hot weather in the region is also exacerbating hypoxia, as warmer water holds less oxygen than cold water, and fish have higher oxygen needs at warmer temperatures,
the representative said
The stink was terrible. I nearly had to put a mask on,
Mr Looney told AAP
Then it will be just dead rotting fish through the township and people won’t be able to use the water,
he said
Unfortunately this won't be the last,
the NSW government warned in 2019
This event is ongoing as a heatwave… continues to put further stress on a system that has experienced extreme conditions from wide-scale flooding,
the DPI said
We’ve just sort of started to clean up, and then this has happened, and that’s sort of you’re walking around in a dried-up mess and then you’re smelling this putrid smell. It’s a terrible smell and horrible to see all those dead fish,
said Jan Dening, a local
This is categorically a catastrophe, regardless of whether this is a consequence of receding floods or water mismanagement, the NSW and federal governments should be acting now to clean up the millions of rotting fish which are spanning kilometres of the river,
she said
There’s an enormous amount of fish. That wall of dead fish is moving its way downstream,
said McCrabb, who thought any attempts to try to clean up the rotting bodies would be “futile” due to the sheer scale of the task
We need to better understand the causes of these kills to better prevent them,
she said
I was worried about my own health. That water right in the top comes down to our pumping station for the town,
he said
This time there’s hardly a live fish out there,
he said
Ultimately, fish kill events happen because the quality of the environment cannot sustain fish life,
she said
The smell is just next level,
resident Graeme McCrabb said
It’s horrendous here today,
he said, speaking from the riverbank about 5km upstream of Menindee
The reports from late yesterday, early this morning … [suggested] we were looking at thousands, potentially tens of thousands, of predominantly bony bream — which is a native species — that have died,
he said Thursday
That means we could be heading back to 2018 and 2019 again. That’s a concern,
added Baumgartner
That just hasn’t happened yet,
he said