Tens of millions of native fish died on the Darling River at Menindee, in far western New South Wales. A report by the state's chief scientist recommended a series of steps to improve river health and prevent mass fish kills.
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00:00 A blanket of dead fish on the surface of the Darling River stretches for kilometre after
00:07 kilometre. Last year's fish kill was the largest ever recorded at Menindee. The Chief
00:12 Scientist of NSW made a series of short, medium and long term recommendations to stop these
00:19 scenes being repeated.
00:20 One of the key things that I've criticised in the past is that reports have happened
00:25 and then nothing has been done.
00:27 So a trial has begun where pure oxygen is being pumped into the river.
00:32 The whole point was to give it a go, to give everything a go, to show that we were listening
00:37 to the local community, to the experts, to the Chief Scientist.
00:41 A 20 tonne transportable tank has been placed near town and oxygen is being pumped into
00:46 the water through these square units.
00:49 It draws in water with no oxygen, mixes it, super saturates it with oxygen and then releases
00:54 water with 100% saturated oxygen.
00:57 A permanent version of the technology has been used successfully in Western Australia.
01:02 The difference between us and Western Australia is that we've got a flowing river at the
01:06 moment and so what we suspect is that the oxygen will be pushed down the river.
01:13 Some locals would like to see the government tackle larger issues.
01:17 We talk about the money being spent on feral pigs and deer and we haven't spent any real
01:21 genuine money on carp eradication.
01:24 With hundreds of dead fish spotted along the river in recent weeks, the technology's success
01:29 could be put to the test sooner than expected.
01:32 It's probably six, five, six, seven fish kills that we've had here in recent years and it's
01:38 devastating to still see those fish die right in our backyard.
01:41 While the trial is seen by some as a step forward, there's a looming sense of déjÃ
01:46 vu for others.
01:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]