NSW authorities are considering moving more stressed fish out of the Darling River after declaring the relocation of a small group of Murray cod a success.
Fisheries department staff on Thursday plucked 20 distressed cod from a pool in the Darling River south of Menindee and trucked them 580 kilometres to Narrandera Fisheries Centre near Wagga Wagga.
Having declared the move a "success" on Friday, workers will now spend the weekend monitoring the same pool, downstream of Weir 32, for any other fish showing signs of stress.
Flows from the weir through the fishway are planned to cease early next week in order to maintain supplies for high-security water users and stock and domestic use, the Department of Primary Industries said in a statement.
The cod relocated on Thursday have been quarantined and are expected to eventually join the fisheries centre's breeding program.
Up to 100,000 fingerlings a year could be produced by the small group and used to restock the Lower Darling where millions of fish have died in mass death events recently.
The DPI says relocating the fish isn't a preferred solution, but their experts were prepared to do "whatever they can to help the state's native fish during these exceptional circumstances".
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 this summer.
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 Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
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