Dead catfish clean-up continues

A MASSIVE clean-up of hundreds of dead catfish in the Brisbane River has begun while authorities wait for test results to return.

Workers remove catfish at Lowood. . Picture: Contributed

A MASSIVE clean-up of hundreds of dead catfish in the Brisbane River has begun while authorities wait for test results to return.

Seqwater, the Department of Environment and Heritage and the Somerset Regional Council took action yesterday to remove the fish from the river near Lowood.

The Queensland Times reported on Tuesday the dead were believed to be exclusively catfish and that the mass kill was possibly caused by a virus.

The carcases had been reported as far upstream as the Lockyer Creek.

The Somerset council said the catfish were found floating along the creek bank at Lowood as early as last Tuesday.

Seqwater and Environment and Heritage Protection officers, who the council said are responsible for maintaining the Brisbane River, began investigating the cause of death soon after.

They have taken water samples for testing.

Somerset Council staff helped Seqwater rangers yesterday to remove hundreds of dead catfish from the river.

Crews began removing dead fish at Twin Bridges and Wivenhoe Pocket and were working their way towards Lowood.

A council spokesperson said crews were expected to assist in the clean-up again today due to the number of dead fish in the area.

Somerset Mayor Graeme Lehmann said the council was assisting Seqwater and the department with the clean-up of the dead fish wherever possible.

Cr Lehmann said the clean-up was not part of the council's responsibilities, but council workers were assisting Seqwater and the department with the job.

"We are assisting Seqwater and Environment and Heritage Protection officers out of goodwill and to help clean up the river faster," he said.

"We also organised for the removal and disposal of collected fish."

Cr Lehmann said while the cause of the deaths was still unknown, he was hoping for test results to be released soon.

No other fish deaths have been reported in other parts of the Brisbane River.

Originally published as Dead catfish clean-up continues