Another fish kill 'on way'

AFTER days of rain concerns have been raised that there could be another devastating fish kill in the Richmond River.

Looking at the floodwater run-off from surrounding farms Jancine Harrison, of Woodburn, says another fish kill is on the way. Picture: Jay Cronan

AFTER days of rain concerns have been raised that there could be another devastating fish kill in the Richmond River.

Jancine Harrison lives on Rocky Mouth Creek at Woodburn, and she said the water ‘stank’ and was ‘very black’.

“It’s heading into the river andgoing towards Ballina,” she said.

“On Sunday I saw schools of fish and they were struggling to breathe.

“They will be dead when they get to Ballina. The water has become deoxygenated.

“It’s a real concern. It looks very similar to the situation we had when we got the fish kills in 2008.

“The water was all bubbles on the top because of all the fish at the surface trying to breathe.

“Last week this creek was alive, but now the quality of the water is terrible. The water is dead. There’s no oxygen and it can’t sustain life.

“We need to do something about the waterways for our future and our kids’ futures.”

Richmond River County Council general manager Michael Wood said the water quality of Rocky Mouth Creek was monitored on a regular basis.

“It’s absolutely impossible to prevent a Blackwater event,” he said.

“What we’ve got at the moment is a poor water event following a lot of rainfall.

“I’ve been told there are a lot of mullet moving around, but no reports of any dead fish yet.”

After recent rain in the area the floodgates at Rocky Mouth Creek were closed for two days and reopened at 6am on Sunday.

“All poor water events are important in my book,” Mr Wood said.

“The floodplains hold the water, and with higher temperatures it is difficult to stop Blackwater events.”

Originally published as Another fish kill 'on way'