Little_Flatty Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 1 hour ago, XD351 said: I also admire the man and applaud anyone who promotes fishing . I was unaware of his involvement back in 2017 and was really commenting on what I had seen on his channel over the last 1- 2 years. I have left comments on his channel in the past mentioning one particular radio programme and that they do have an extensive relationship with the SFF party and a few Liberal party ministers- no reply. I have also seen comments left by subscribers that ask how can they help and no reply so to me it seemed like some of his videos were just a rant , maybe his way of venting his frustrations or feeling like he is just one guy and no one will listen to him - The movement of a sand dune starts with one grain of sand , it’s just a matter of getting the other grains of sand to follow ! I think that Aaron combined with the Parramatta river group mentioned earlier would be a powerful force that would benefit the River ,its ecosystem , anglers and the general population of the area . It wouldn’t surprise me if there were similar groups to the Parramatta river group that are trying to sort out the Hawkesbury Nepean system . If it wasn't for his video, we likely wouldn't have realised this was happening. So he has played his part. Hopefully he is now aware of the PRCG. I am sure they are aware of him, because they investigated the site of his video after they saw it. They have a lot of the right people already in their ranks (EPA included). There are riverkeepers on the Hawkesbury-Nepean and Georges rivers as well. I'm most familiar with the Parramatta river team and there seems to be a lot of unity about what they want to achieve. Mostly it's about making the river clean enough to swim in, which would have obvious benefits for the fishing as well. As for the natural cause finding, we really don't have anything else to go off. We need to trust the scientists to do their job, and I'm sure they would be punitive/proactive if someone or something was found to be responsible. I think at least we should be glad that the evidence at present suggests it wasn't anything more sinister. And hope that their conclusion was correct. Oddly enough, at the same time this fish kill was happening, a number of our pet fish died. My research suggests low oxygen levels as well. Maybe there's something in the air?🤔 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenHourFishing Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, XD351 said: I’m not buying the natural occurrence crap , sure if it hadn’t rained for a long time and we copped a significant downpour maybe I could and what is the organic matter they are referring to ? Is it just I nice way of saying Sewage? Here are the rainfall figures for Jan/Feb and I can see the biggest downfall was early to mid January so why didn’t it happen then ? The organic matter is fallen trees, leaf litter, branches etc. When it washes into the river it will slowly decompose (This takes time, (weeks/months) which would explain why it happened after we got like 3 weeks of consecutive rain. This will explain the process better than I can - https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/water/allocations-availability/droughts-floods/drought-update/managing-drought-recovery/blackwater "Hypoxic blackwater ‘Blackwater’ is a term used when high levels of organic material and tannins in a river discolour the water making it appear black. The water can then become hypoxic (low oxygen) when the material decomposes reducing the oxygen in the water. Blackwater events occur during flooding when organic material is washed off the river bank and floodplain and into the river system." I know people wanna blame the warehouses along the river or some dirtbags that dumped some toxic liquid, and to be fair the river does have heaps of floating trash. Its a joke, but events like this arent uncommon and the fact that they predicted an event like this after all of that rain, further cements my belief that there findings are valid. Not to mention its literally there job to get to the bottom of this. Edited February 9, 2022 by GoldenHourFishing 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimT Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 in respect of tidal flows and salt/freshwater would the weirs in the Parramatta area/wharf etc add to this dilemma Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 2 minutes ago, motiondave said: Who is this Parramatta team that is mentioned? Do you have a contact for them? I'd like to know more and also speak to them about my proposal for another boat ramp on upper Parra river. Dave: Home | Parramatta River (ourlivingriver.com.au) I don't think that they have anything to do with boat ramps (they are mainly about swimming and water quality), but likely that they are well connected, know their way around local government/government authorities and might be able to advise you in how to approach things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD351 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 3 hours ago, GoldenHourFishing said: The organic matter is fallen trees, leaf litter, branches etc. When it washes into the river it will slowly decompose (This takes time, (weeks/months) which would explain why it happened after we got like 3 weeks of consecutive rain. This will explain the process better than I can - https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/water/allocations-availability/droughts-floods/drought-update/managing-drought-recovery/blackwater "Hypoxic blackwater ‘Blackwater’ is a term used when high levels of organic material and tannins in a river discolour the water making it appear black. The water can then become hypoxic (low oxygen) when the material decomposes reducing the oxygen in the water. Blackwater events occur during flooding when organic material is washed off the river bank and floodplain and into the river system." I know people wanna blame the warehouses along the river or some dirtbags that dumped some toxic liquid, and to be fair the river does have heaps of floating trash. Its a joke, but events like this arent uncommon and the fact that they predicted an event like this after all of that rain, further cements my belief that there findings are valid. Not to mention its literally there job to get to the bottom of this. But the whole area is urbanised and not a forest , there is a reasonable tidal flow and I would have suspected that any black water would have dispersed fairly quickly . I have seen fish kills from black water in the past ( up at Ballina) this started way up in the upper reaches of the river and fairly quickly moved down stream killing everything in its path , the difference with it and the parramatta river is this has started only a Kilometre or two from the weir and I haven’t heard any reports of the fish up there dropping dead . I do hope the EPA release their results from testing that way we all will know beyond any doubt what the cause was . Anyhow time will tell . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD351 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Little_Flatty said: If it wasn't for his video, we likely wouldn't have realised this was happening. So he has played his part. Hopefully he is now aware of the PRCG. I am sure they are aware of him, because they investigated the site of his video after they saw it. They have a lot of the right people already in their ranks (EPA included). There are riverkeepers on the Hawkesbury-Nepean and Georges rivers as well. I'm most familiar with the Parramatta river team and there seems to be a lot of unity about what they want to achieve. Mostly it's about making the river clean enough to swim in, which would have obvious benefits for the fishing as well. As for the natural cause finding, we really don't have anything else to go off. We need to trust the scientists to do their job, and I'm sure they would be punitive/proactive if someone or something was found to be responsible. I think at least we should be glad that the evidence at present suggests it wasn't anything more sinister. And hope that their conclusion was correct. Oddly enough, at the same time this fish kill was happening, a number of our pet fish died. My research suggests low oxygen levels as well. Maybe there's something in the air?🤔 The two most important things he did are to document it in his video and then report it to the EPA , if no one called them they still wouldn’t know about it . Also a big thank you must go to Lastworm for posting it up on Fishraider so those who are not subscribed to Aaron’s YouTube channel are made aware of this atrocity. Edited February 9, 2022 by XD351 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 45 minutes ago, XD351 said: But the whole area is urbanised and not a forest , there is a reasonable tidal flow and I would have suspected that any black water would have dispersed fairly quickly . I have seen fish kills from black water in the past ( up at Ballina) this started way up in the upper reaches of the river and fairly quickly moved down stream killing everything in its path , the difference with it and the parramatta river is this has started only a Kilometre or two from the weir and I haven’t heard any reports of the fish up there dropping dead . I do hope the EPA release their results from testing that way we all will know beyond any doubt what the cause was . Anyhow time will tell . There is a fairly substantial stand of mangroves that could add a fair amount of organic content, and also Vineyard Creek goes through quite a lot of bushland. I've never really seen it flowing whenever I ride my bike over it, but I guess then again, when it's really flowing, I'm probably not riding. I did see many fish alive and well down at Meadowbank, so you're probably right that it dispersed as soon as the river widened. Only problem is they weren't hungry! But that is a regular occurrence and I believe it is tide/weather related (remind me to go back to my data project next time the weather is too rubbish for fishing!). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastworm Posted February 9, 2022 Author Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) Well what do you know… Edited February 9, 2022 by lastworm 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimT Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Hypoxic Blackwater ?? I don't know about that and the "forecast" by BOM.... Parra River gets a good flush out fairly frequently when ever there is a good series of thunderstorms in the catchment area upstream.... seems to be a bit of techy speak to keep people happy... just my uneducated observations being a local..... Jim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 Ok, so I've fished fairly solidly over the past week at Meadowbank for nought. This is unusual, as normally I'd be able to find a few flathead and bream without much effort. My sessions have been pretty much hit-less except for the tiny tailor which will attack anything. Plenty of bait in the form of poddy mullet, and the little chopper tailor are present as usual, but it doesn't appear there is anything around to harrass them. Last week we had a lot of fresh water in the system which would shut it down, and the tides weren't exactly optimal. But this week things are looking good, but the fish aren't there. Not sure if anyone has had a similar experience. If so, either the fish stocks were badly damaged, or the fish kill might have created conditions that caused the remaining population to move further down. I might keep fishing a bit further down river (Hunters Hill and further downstream seem ok) for now. I'll fish locally every now and again to see how things are. Hopefully things will improve. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD351 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Sadly I think the fishing upstream of the Rhodes road bridge is going to be pretty dismal for a long time , we will never truly know the extent of the kill and things like prawns, shellfish and the small organisms in the river could all be dead for all we know- deep down in my gut I have this sick feeling that the Parra river EP stocks which would have been endangered before this may now be no more . I would try up the back of iron cove or Drummoyne boat ramp - plenty of shore based fishing up there and I would also like to know what hen and chicken is fishing like . Aaron has put out another video on the fish kill and talks about the reply he got from the EPA . One of his subscribers has started a FB page for the river and a bit of a search through the comments on his video will show what it is called for those who are interested . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 19 minutes ago, XD351 said: Sadly I think the fishing upstream of the Rhodes road bridge is going to be pretty dismal for a long time , we will never truly know the extent of the kill and things like prawns, shellfish and the small organisms in the river could all be dead for all we know- deep down in my gut I have this sick feeling that the Parra river EP stocks which would have been endangered before this may now be no more . I would try up the back of iron cove or Drummoyne boat ramp - plenty of shore based fishing up there and I would also like to know what hen and chicken is fishing like . Aaron has put out another video on the fish kill and talks about the reply he got from the EPA . One of his subscribers has started a FB page for the river and a bit of a search through the comments on his video will show what it is called for those who are interested . Hen and chicken is probably ok. One angler I know got five flathead in one session on the weekend, out the back of the bay. I’m hoping the fishing will improve with the weeks to come…surely something has to come and eat all this bait! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD351 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 That’s great to hear ! Fortunately at this time of year the big breeding bream and flathead are downstream so it didn’t kill them .Luderick move in and out so it won’t affect them . If you are seeing heaps of bait that is a positive sign ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimT Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 On 2/9/2022 at 10:36 PM, jot said: Hypoxic Blackwater ?? I don't know about that and the "forecast" by BOM.... Parra River gets a good flush out fairly frequently when ever there is a good series of thunderstorms in the catchment area upstream.... seems to be a bit of techy speak to keep people happy... just my uneducated observations being a local..... Jim plenty of fresh coming over next couple of days Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD351 Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Aaron posted another video today of yet another fish kill . We simply can’t sit by and let this be fobbed off as a natural occurrence when we know it isn’t . Any suggestions as to what fishos can do are welcome - my thoughts are to join the Parramatta river catchment group and support them - I don’t do social media like FB etc 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 9 hours ago, motiondave said: These were posted on another site, WWP Parramatta river , not sure what WWP is. I think WWP means 'Wentworth Point'. That's the locality on the western edge of Homebush Bay. 7 hours ago, XD351 said: Aaron posted another video today of yet another fish kill . We simply can’t sit by and let this be fobbed off as a natural occurrence when we know it isn’t . Any suggestions as to what fishos can do are welcome - my thoughts are to join the Parramatta river catchment group and support them - I don’t do social media like FB etc I'm surprised there were any fish left to kill! Might be time to pop down to the river to have a look when I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastworm Posted March 6, 2022 Author Share Posted March 6, 2022 Saw this today, I’m at a loss as to why EPA/Sydney water/local councils and government can’t go down and find the problem themselves and solve it. It’s right in front of their faces, Aaron has shown it in his video. This has to be a cover up. You get fined for throwing rubbish out the window of your car, flicking cigarette butts, leaving rubbish on public transport. Why is this allowed to keep happening!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimT Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 time to use some chitosan in our waterways to suck up all the pollutants Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfish Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Most of the soil from Rosehill to Rhodes is incredibly polluted, there's a reason why its parkland or buried under a foot of cement. There are plans to slowly remove the muck and build unit blocks , that's the only way to pay for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD351 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Fisheries has a phone number to report fish kills - not sure they will do anything but might be worth a try . 1800 043 536 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delraiser Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 This was a dead Jewy (around 50cm) I saw floating at Rhodes on my walk home the other week. A few other dead things in the Haslams creek mangroves as well (mainly small bream). Haven’t heard anything for a while now but am still seeing the odd dead fish float by Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD351 Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 Probably find some bureaucrat has found a rug to sweep it under where no one will ever find it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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