Aerators to be deployed across NSW to minimise fish deaths

The minister for NSW primary industries announced aerators will be deployed across the state to help oxygen levels in the water to avoid more fish deaths.

Dead fish in the Darling River

Dead fish in the Darling River Source: SBS

The NSW government has announced aerators will be deployed across the state to help oxygen levels in the water in an attempt to avoid another large fish death.

Minister for NSW Primary Industries Niall Blair has previously said the fish at Menindee were killed by a "perfect storm" of factors including severely low water flow, algal blooms and a sudden drop in temperature.

The minister on Tuesday announced 16 aerators will be deployed across the state in an attempt to minimise the risk of further deaths by increasing oxygen in the water.

Four will be installed in the Darling River as an "immediate priority" with others to be deployed at Lake Keepit near Tamworth and Lake Burrendong near Dubbo.

 Up to a million fish have died in a far west NSW river.
Up to a million fish have died in a far west NSW river. Source: SBS


"They are a bandaid solution, we admit that, nothing will stop this fish kill unless we get proper river flows and levels in our dams back to normal but we are looking at doing everything we can to try and limit the damage," Mr Blair said.

The aerators will be solar charged and will mostly run at night when oxygen depletion is worst.

They are due to arrive from Western Australia within the next 24 hours and will run until conditions change, the minister said.



Ex-Greens and now independent state MP Jeremy Buckingham says the aerators are "much too little too late".

"You won't restore health to the Darling River unless you address the underlying causes of the fish deaths and its decline - too much water extraction, corruption and mismanagement," he said in a statement.



The NSW government drastically revised down the number of fish thought to have died near the NSW-Victorian border a week after the mass fish death event in the state's far west caused outrage across the country.

The office of Mr Blair on Tuesday initially suggested some 1800 fish had died in Lake Hume which is part of the Murray River system.

But his department subsequently said an investigation had found "approximately 60 dead carp were located in the water" near a boat ramp.

"A cause of the fish kill has not yet been determined, however, there are no algal or dissolved oxygen issues noticeable," the DPI said in a statement.

"Fishing mortality is one potential cause."



Albury City mayor Kevin Mack told AAP that local catchment and tourism authorities had no knowledge of the lake fish kill.

"They say the water quality at the moment is the best it's ever been," he said.

The primary industries department said ongoing drought conditions across western NSW had resulted in fish kills in a number of waterways.




"With drought conditions expected to continue it's likely more fish kills will occur without significant rainfall to generate replenishment flows."

An estimated one million fish died in the Darling River at Menindee last week prompting the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to hold an emergency meeting with stakeholders in Canberra to discuss how to prevent further deaths.

MDBA chief executive Phillip Glyde says Tuesday's meeting will share information about the latest fish deaths and identify other areas in the basin at risk of similar events.


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