The illegal opening of a river in south-west Victoria has led to a massive fish kill, almost exactly 15 years after a previous illegal opening killed 30,000 fish.
The illegal opening of the Surry River in south-west Victoria is being blamed for the death of "many thousands" of fishA similar incident in 2005 caused the deaths of about 30,000 fish
Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority staff said "many thousands" of fish are dead in the latest incident and that number is still climbing — but it is hoped the death toll won't match that ofGHCMA chief executive, Adam Bester, said it appeared someone had dug a trench through the sand bank between the Surry and the ocean.
"But based on when it was observed to be opened, which was between 6.30pm and 8pm [Wednesday], there was no rainfall or no increase in flow through our gauging station so we know there was no change in flow that would warrant the opening to occur naturally."Mr Bester said it took the Surry River years to recover from the last fish kill.At least one local farmer had complained to local politicians about flooding caused by the unopened river, and is claiming the river opened naturally.
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