ENVIRONMENT VICTORIA

HEALTHY RIVERS BULLETIN

MASSIVE KILL OF MURRAY COD IN BROKEN CREEK

The biggest kill of Murray cod seen in Victoria for decades started on the weekend.

Rotting Murray cod started floating to the surface of Broken Creek, north west of Shepparton last Saturday.

The fish are still dying.

To date about 150 Murray cod, some over a metre long, have been buried in a mass grave. Local farmers are using pitch-forks to get the dead fish out of the creek.

Some of the dead Murray cod are bigger than a child.

These fish are the last of their kind. Ninety per cent of our native fish have already been lost from the Murray and Darling River systems.

Broken Creek is now clogged with weirs and dead fish – there are 13 weirs in a 60 kilometre stretch of creek. The creek hasn’t flowed since August so the fish have been trapped behind the weir walls.

Imagine being locked into a burning room and left to die – that’s what has happened to these fish.

The EPA have begun investigating the kill. Who is responsible for the death of Murray cod in Broken Creek?

For the last 50 years fish like Murray cod have had to survive on whatever water is left in our rivers once everybody else has drunk their fill. Their populations have been decimated and our rivers treated like sewers.

We need to get serious about protecting our rivers. Time is almost up for the dying rivers of the north.

Rivers need a clear right to enough water to keep beautiful and once powerful fish like Murray cod alive in our rivers.