Waters from last year’s floods in Australia’s southeast are gushing out to sea and taking carp with them — but the salinity of the ocean is killing the invasive species, so dead fish are now washing up on South Australian beaches.
Pictures from Middleton, Port Elliot and Goolwa show piles of juvenile carp littering the shores of the popular summer destinations.
The principal biosecurity officer for weeds and pests at the state’s Department of Primary Industries and Regions said it was normal for carp to spawn at this time of year, but that the high flows were flushing them from the fresh water of the River Murray into the marine environment.
“They’re normally tolerant [of different environments], but don’t take high salinity well ... that’s why we’re seeing fish deaths,” she said.
“Normally when there’s a fish kill event, the fish will be either consumed by other species or degrade and form part of the natural system,” she said. “We do still expect them to be washed back in over days and weeks.”
If the piles of rotting fish do accumulate, though, she said there is a plan to bring in contractors to remove them in a sustainable way, possibly through composting.
On Facebook, John Cork-Gorringe wrote there were mulloway and bream at Middleton as well.
“The shallows are alive with carp struggling in the salty water,” he wrote. “I will never see this again in my lifetime.”
Rodgers said the dead fish were mostly carp, which have invaded Australia’s rivers in enormous numbers.
In 2016, then-water minister Barnaby Joyce announced a plan to introduce the herpes virus into the carp population to control their numbers.
However, when the National Carp Control Plan was released at the end of the year, it recommended more research be done.
Carp have since been spawning in huge numbers, particularly after the floods.
A group of Charles Sturt University ecologists this week said the “videos of writhing masses of both adult and young fish illustrate that all is not well in our rivers.”
They described the “house of horrors” the carp cause as they degrade plants and habitats.
“They can make the bed of many rivers look like the surface of golf balls — denuded and dimpled, devoid of any habitat,” they said in the Conversation.
They said the previous estimate of up to 357 million fish in Australia’s rivers and wetlands could be exceeded this year.
“Carp are super-abundant right now, because floods give them access to floodplain habitats,” the ecologists said. “There, each large female can spawn millions of eggs and the young have high survival rates.”
It is a boom year because of the flooding and the spike in numbers has prompted calls for a release of the herpes virus.
SPEAKING OUT: After Siranudh Scott’s allegations surfaced, celebrities and public figures took to social media to share their own experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative nation. Siranudh Scott, a member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his elder brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager. Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday last week. “I felt I needed to speak
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Forecasters in Europe yesterday warned of exceptional heat as record temperatures driven by a “heat dome” push temperatures well above seasonal norms across the continent. The surge follows a record-breaking Monday, with France logging its hottest day in the month of May on record, its weather agency said, and the UK also posting unprecedented highs. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Restrictions on outdoor work were imposed in parts of Italy, beaches in southwest France filled earlier than usual and
RSS