NSW authorities have moved more stressed fish from the Darling River system in a bid to help save the population in the event of further mass death events.
Primary industries department staff on Tuesday plucked almost 80 Murray cod, golden and silver perch from pools on the Darling River downstream of Menindee in the state's west.
The authority took 20 silver perch and 20 golden perch to Narrandera Fisheries Centre - some 580 kilometres away - in the hope they can be used to help restock the struggling river system once conditions improve.
The remaining fish were released downstream where water quality is better and aerators are being used to reduce the likelihood of further mass death events.
It comes a week after 20 distressed cod were taken from the area, downstream of Weir 32, in a move the authority labelled a "success".
Hundreds of thousands of young fish could be produced by the rescued animals each year to restock the Lower Darling where millions of fish have died in mass kills recently.
Flows from the weir through the fishway are soon to cease in order to maintain supplies for high-security water users and stock and domestic use, the primary industries department says.
The DPI says relocating the fish isn't a preferred solution "however the unique circumstances during these dry and hot conditions have necessitated the use of a variety of management responses".
Algal blooms, rapid temperature changes and low water flows have all contributed to a series of mass fish deaths at Menindee and elsewhere in the Murray-Darling basin.
The final report from a South Australian royal commission into the river system, released in late January, found water allocations in the basin were determined by politics and called for a complete overhaul of the basin plan.
Share
