Fish kill in Australian lake; European carp worst hit

Thousands of European carp and some amount of native Murray cod have been found dead in a fish kill at Lake Pamamaroo in far western New South Wales, near Menindee in Australia as per visiting directors in the area. European carp is an invasive species which can damage ecosystems and push out local species.  

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Film Director & Anthropologist found the fishes 

Reports suggest that film directors Rory McLeod and anthropologist Peter Yates of Victoria state said that they reached the area on October 15 to investigate reports of a fish kill. This week earlier, the New South Wales Department of primary industries said that it was unable to establish if a fish kill had occurred from a previously released aerial footage. Peter Yates said what they found in fish kill was that 90% of fishes were carp.

Yates and McLeod said that they were able to see around 20 Murray cod, a species which is amongst vulnerable in Australia. The duo said that they think between 2,000 to 5,000 fish have died. Yates said that it was not really possible to count with any accuracy and that he tried to count sections but there were a lot of bodies and mud and it was pretty hard to move around. 

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More findings

European carp is an invasive species which can damage ecosystems and push out local species and are subject to a national program investigating ways to remove them. In fact, in January, countless native fishes died in three mass fish kills. Yates said that he thought that Lake Pamamaroo fish kill was due to drying up of the lake which killed the fish. He said that it is connected to the quick drying of the lake system, but it is not caused by blue-green algae. He concluded by saying that the lake dried out and there was a deeper part and that fish was trapped. 

(With inputs from agencies) 

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