I drove over the town bridge on Sunday morning and noticed a lot of carp floating on top of the water. They do come up to the surface in clumps sometimes, but this was unusual. I stopped my car and had a look, and I could see dead fish on top of the water. I reported it to the fisheries as we’ve had fish kill before. They asked me to hop in my boat and have a look.





The fish had died on the Sunday and then all started to come up to float the next day, so on the Monday it was carnage on the river. There were some still coming to the surface on Tuesday. This has to be one of the biggest environmental disasters we’ve seen in the Murray-Darling basin.

We’ve got a lake system in the middle of the Darling River, and the authorities drained water from the lakes. We should have had reserves of five to six years’ worth of water, but it was drained out twice in four years.





Screenshot from a video posted on Facebook by a Menindee resident.

“You drain the water and hope it rains. But then it didn’t rain”

You need running water to keep oxygen in the water, but the loss of water means the water slowed down and the pools became stagnant. We’re in the middle of a drought here, and the sunlight and heat encourages blue-green algae to grow in the water. As the algae dies it takes oxygen out of the water. That’s why the fish have died – there’s no oxygen in the water. You drain the water and you hope it rains. But then it didn’t rain. It’s as simple as that.

Authorities drained the lakes because they can use the water elsewhere for irrigation. They actually use some of the water to encourage a fish breeding process. It’s ironic that in draining the water to hit environmental targets further down the river, they’ve managed to kill a million fish. It’s as dumb as it sounds.





Photo by our Observer. This dead Murray cod measures over a metre long.

This is outback Australia. Farmers upstream and downstream rely on the Darling River for water for stock, irrigation and for domestic use. Water was required elsewhere where there are more people, more votes, and so the politicians drained the water to go there.

The local community is angry. It’s killed endangered species like Murray cod, which is an iconic Australian fish. Anyone who’s a fisherman would dream of catching a Murray cod. Some of these fish are 80 years old, older than people living here in the town. It really resonates with people.

Photo by our Observer showing some of the dead fish in the Darling River.

Murray cod, golden perch and silver perch are native to the Murray basin. Not only have we killed the fish but we’ve killed their food source, the smaller fish. You can just grab handfuls of little prawns out of the water. And the dead fish stink. It’s rancid.