A disturbing fish decapitation on the Darling River at Menindee in a distant area in Latest South Wales, Australia shows that it’s believed that as many as million dead fish.
Menindee, a town of around 500, is an hour’s drive from Broken Hill, Australia.
It has been the scene of several massive fish kills in recent years, with a 25km algae bloom being blamed for the deaths of lots of of hundreds of fish in 2019.
A spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Commodity Industries told news.com.au that an estimated “million fish have been infected, mainly bony herring (Bony bream) and a smaller variety of other large species resembling Murray cod, golden perch.” , Perth silver and carp”.
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“This event continues as the heatwave in western Latest South Wales continues to place additional pressure on the system, which has experienced extreme conditions as a results of widespread flooding,” a spokesman said.
In response to the DPI, the Bony Herring species typically grows and declines over time.
Population ‘boom’ during flooding, followed by significant mortality or ‘collapse’ as flows return to more normal levels.
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They might also be more at risk of environmental stresses resembling low oxygen levels, especially in the extreme conditions resembling elevated temperatures that the area currently experiences.
“These fish deaths are related to low oxygen levels in the water (hypoxia) as the flood waters recede,” a DPI spokesperson said.
“Significant amounts of fish, including carp and bony herring, nutrients and organic matter from the floodplain are retained back in the riverbed.
“The present heatwave in the region also exacerbates hypoxia because warmer water incorporates less oxygen than cold water, and fish have higher oxygen requirements at higher temperatures.”
Multiple agencies in Latest South Wales, Australia, including Water Latest South Wales and the local council, are continuing to work together to reply.
Claims of water mismanagement and the poor condition of the Darling River in the Murray Darling Basin have been raised by residents as a potential reason behind mass deaths, but this has been denied by the DPI in the past.
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Residents have criticized the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s decision to empty Australia’s Menindee Lakes in 2014 and 2017 to fulfill downstream water needs.
Fish kills are defined by the NSW Department of Primary Industries as sudden mass mortality of untamed fish.
“Fish deaths can occur at any time, although data indicates fish kills usually tend to occur in the summer or after sudden changes in temperature,” the department said on its website.