‘Thousands’ of dead fish swamp Gold Coast waterway: ‘It’s putrid’

A Gold Coast waterway has been reduced to a smelly “putrid” pit after the death of “thousands” of fish in recent weeks.

A GOLD Coast waterway has been reduced to a smelly “putrid” pit after the death of “thousands” of fish in recent weeks.

Angry Benowa residents want the Gold Coast City Council to take urgent action to save other wildlife and believe the decision to dam up Racecourse Drive Weir, near the Gold Coast Turf Club, could have contributed to the deaths.

Benowa residents said “thousands” of dead fish have washed up in the area in recent weeks. Picture: Jerad Williams

Resident believe the decision to dam up the weir has contributed to the recent deaths. Picture: Jerad Williams

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It is the second fish kill in the same spot between Clear Island Lake and the Nerang River in the past 15 months.

Last June, council blamed the death of hundreds of fish on a “natural occurrence” caused by a sudden cold weather spike which “significantly impacted oxygen levels”.

The area is popular with dog walkers, fishermen and joggers and had been a haven for fish, eels and mudcrabs.

Local man Chris Humphrey said he has made more than a dozen calls to council about the conditions. Picture: Jerad Williams

Resident Chris Humphrey said channels used to run under one end of the weir to keep the water flowing, but a concrete slab had broken and cut them off in February.

“We (the community) opened up more of the rocks around it to allow water to go through … but in August council put in (more) rocks to dam it up so it’s completely cut off from any oxygen, any movement,” he said.

Residents like Annie Otton and Chris Humphrey used to love walking their dogs at the Racecourse Dr weir, which has now been blocked off with rocks. Picture: Jerad Williams

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Mr Humphrey said the result was “disgusting” water which had nowhere to go.

“You can’t even see the rocks under the surface because of the algae, there’s black stuff pouring in from stormwater drains, there’s dead fish all over the surface, thousands of them over the last four weeks,” he said.

“You never see seagulls in Bundall but they’re everywhere now, eating all the fish – bream, mullet and trevally. It absolutely stinks, it’s putrid.”

The Gold Coast City Council said it was investigating the cause of the dead fish.

“Officers have undertaken water sampling which indicates that this event is likely to be a continuation of the recent lake turnover event, which is a natural phenomenon,” the spokeswoman said.

Gold Coast City Council workers used wheelie bins to collect dead fish from the waterway on Wednesday. Picture: Jerad Williams

“Officers will continue to monitor the situation over coming days.“We apologise for any inconvenience and thank residents for their patience.”

Council said the Department of Environment and Science had been notified of the situation.

Mr Humphrey said he had made more than a dozen calls to council about the issue in recent months.

A handful of residents met with a council officer at the site on Tuesday.

Annie Otton has lived in the area for 27 years and was shocked by the conditions.

“The smell is terrible but mostly I’m concerned about the wildlife. I saw a stingray in here the other week, he’d be dead by now surely,” she said.

Hoards of dead fish in wheelie bins by the side of the waterway. Picture: Chris Humphrey

Dead fish found at the Racecourse Drive weir. Picture: Chris Humphrey

Paolo Sheen said residents were fed up.

Adam Cox said: “I had a big bucket full of the (dead) fish that I took in (to council) with me as my little political protest, then I spent even longer waiting on the phone to complain afterwards.”

Mr Humphrey said residents wanted the weir to be reopened with new channels.