In the state's north the long tail of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is being felt as tens of thousands of fish and other marine life are left gasping for air as flood water makes its way to the coast. Dead fish are turning up in the thousands from the Macleay River, to the Richmond River and further north to the border. Meanwhile residents are left to gather the dead fish which is proving to be a very smelly and unpleasant task.
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00:00There's no escape for these West Ballina residents amid the stench of rotting fish carcasses.
00:08This whole shore here was full of fish, you couldn't even walk on the sand.
00:12Picking up the remains after ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.
00:16The sadness of seeing all of these species, fish I've never seen before, disappear
00:21and they probably will disappear for a very long time.
00:24Third generation professional fisher Claire Joblin says it's heartbreaking
00:29and is concerned for her industry.
00:31I've seen a lot of dead fish definitely in the circular quay in Ballinas, pretty full on.
00:36A lot of female, you know, larger breeders, few crabs, lots of mullet,
00:42as you can see a few struggling on the surface here.
00:45She says the local fishing industry has been left in limbo.
00:49It'd be good if fisheries came and assessed it to see if we could be able to fish
00:53and see if compensation was necessary.
00:56The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development says
00:59the impacts of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred continues to be felt
01:03as poor water quality discharges from north coast floodplains.
01:07It blames the fish deaths on hypoxic water.
01:10This is what happens after a flood when rotting vegetation depletes the dissolved oxygen levels,
01:16falling to such a low level that marine life can't breathe.
01:20Essentially they are suffocating in this water.
01:23It's three years on from the region's last flood disaster and major fish kill.
01:29We can honestly say that it's a massive black water event, a big fish kill,
01:34and I'm hearing from community that it is bigger than the floods of 2022.
01:39While the clean-up gets underway, authorities warn more fish could die in the coming days and weeks.