“It’s really terrible, from what you can see, dead fish,” Menindy resident Graham McCrabb told AFP, adding that fish kills this year were worse than previous years. According to the state government, populations of fish such as bony herring and carp have skyrocketed in the river since the recent floods, but are now disappearing in large numbers as the flood waters recede. “This fish kill is due to low levels of oxygen in the water (hypoxia) as floodwaters recede,” the government said in a statement.
A previous fish kill in Menindee, about 12 hours west of Sydney, was attributed to a lack of water in the river due to prolonged drought and a toxic algae bloom over 40 kilometers . The population of Menindi is around 500 people, in recent years the town has suffered from both drought and floods.
