PIRSA to investigate cause of fish kill
Thursday 17 July 2008
PIRSA officers are investigating the cause of the deaths of 300-400 Bony Bream fish at Barmera’s Lake Bonney.
There are also unconfirmed reports of a small number of Bony Bream deaths in the main Murray River near Loxton.
PIRSA Manager, Marine Biosecurity, Vic Neverauskas, said the fish deaths were likely to be a seasonal natural occurrence due to the current cold weather conditions.
Mr Neverauskas said that this particular fish species had a low tolerance to cold temperatures. Recent temperatures in the region were below the known tolerance level for Bony Bream.
At this stage no other species have been identified as being affected.
Fish and water quality samples will be collected to determine the cause and extent of the fish kill.
Results will not be known for several days.
In August last year a fish kill at Walkers flat on the River Murray which also involved Bony Bream was related to cold conditions.
