Authorities are investigating a suspected mass fish kill after hundreds of dead fish washed up on Perth’s lower Swan River, prompting concerns about water quality.<\/p>\n
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is undertaking testing in the Point Walter area after the discovery of the dead fish.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the department said recent strong rains and resultant freshwater flows may have contributed to the incident.<\/p>\n
Dead fish sightings have been reported in the river around Point Walter, Bicton, Mosman Park, Dalkeith and North Fremantle.<\/p>\n
The majority of species affected appear to be marine, including scaly mackerel, and some crab and starfish.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A group of dead fish spotted at Point Walter amid reports of a fish kill. (Supplied: Simon Pawley)<\/p>\n
Samples of fish and water have been collected for testing.<\/p>\n
DBCA’s principal scientist Kerry Trayler said marine life in the lower Swan River had been affected by an increase of freshwater flow, changing the oxygen levels.<\/p>\n
“We haven’t seen great freshwater flows, as good as this one, since about 2022,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The event started over the last couple of days, but it’s certainly escalated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions’ principal scientist Kerry Trayler. (ABC News: Julian Robins)<\/p>\n
“We’ve seen large numbers of fish on shorelines from the area around Dalkeith all the way down to the bridges in Fremantle.”<\/p>\n
Avoid swimming<\/p>\n
The department is advising the public to avoid river areas where dead fish are present.<\/p>\n
“We’re encouraging people not to swim in the waterway where there is dead or dying fish\u2026 and not to encourage their pets into those areas as well, and people certainly shouldn’t be collecting bait,” Ms Trayler said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Authorities are blaming the deaths on recent heavy rain. (ABC News: Julian Robins)<\/p>\n
The colour of the river has intensified in recent weeks, with parts of the Swan now a deep tannin colour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It comes as Perth recorded its wettest winter since 1996.<\/p>\n
The department is urging the public to avoid collecting dead or dying fish for consumption, bait or pet food.<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities are investigating a suspected mass fish kill after hundreds of dead fish washed up on Perth’s lower…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,46285,75,81828,81829,81827,6349,81831,86,81832,128,81830,45],"class_list":["post-115285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dbca","tag-environment","tag-fish-deaths","tag-fish-die","tag-fish-kill","tag-fishing","tag-perth-fish-kill","tag-perth-news","tag-perth-water","tag-science","tag-swan-river","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}