Million dead fish cause environmental stink in Aussie
AS MANY as a million fish are believed to have died along the banks of a major river system in drought-battered eastern Australia, and the authorities warned on Monday of more deaths to come.
The banks of the MurrayDarling Rivers are thick with rotten fish, with officials putting the number of dead at hundreds of thousands and saying the toll is likely closer to one million.
Further high temperatures forecast for this week could make the situation worse, the New South Wales government has warned.
Low water conditions and the heat may also have encouraged an algae bloom that starves the fish of oxygen and produces toxins.
“We do expect to see more fish kills across parts of the far west and Northern Tablelands this week,” said state minister Niall Blair.
The deaths have become a national issue, sparking angry allegations about the cause and who is responsible.
“It’s a devastating ecological event,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday, pointing to apocalyptic scenes. “The sheer visual image of this is just terribly upsetting,” he said.
Morrison’s government has bla med t he f ish deat hs on drought, and defended policies which some loca ls say ha s c au s e d t he s y s t em ic depletion and pollution of the river system.
Caused by a drought?
“There’s a drought and this is one of the consequences of drought. There are many, and my focus on drought has not shif ted one inch,” Morrison said.
But for years scientists have been war ning of people extracting vast amounts of water without check for irrigation or other uses, undercutting billions of dollars of investment.
“Dead fish and dying rivers a r e not b e c a u s e of t he drought, it’s because we are ex t ract i ng too much water from our river,” said John Williams, an expert in water econom ic s at t he Aust r a l i a n National Universit y.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten called on the government to set up an “emergency task force” to address the issue.
“You can’t ignore a million dead fish, that’s a shocking development,” said Shorten.
Morrison insisted the management plan for the MurrayDarling Basin was bipartisan, adding that his government was only following on the policies of the opposition Labor government.
“I’m concerned today that some might want to play politics with that,” he said.
“There were reports done by scientists under Labor’s contribution to that plan back in 2012 and the plan has been operating in accordance with that advice.”
Scientists are calling for politicians to be held to account.
“Billions have been spent on upgrading irrigation infras t r uct ure,” s a i d Quenti n Grafton, also of the Australian National University, “but with no public benefit.”
“It’s a disgrace and it’s time those responsible are held accountable for this unfolding disaster.”
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