Calls for answers on cause of Cockburn Sound fish deaths

Marine biologist Dr Andrew Rowland is demanding whoever was responsible for the 1000-plus fish deaths in Cockburn in the past few weeks to be held accountable.

Recfishwest chief executive Dr Rowland said he was hopeful the multi-Government agency investigation would uncover answers.

“Given new reports of fish kills late last week, we’d hope to see a quicker response from authorities that should result in the collection of fresher samples for testing,” he said.

“The recreational fishing community advocated for greater protection of pink snapper spawning aggregations over many years; fish spawn in the Sound at this time of year and it’s currently closed to protect breeding stock.”

“We, as a recreational fishing community, are upholding our end of the bargain and this is a massive let down.”

Rockingham MLA Mark McGowan slammed the State Government’s handling of the investigation and called for a full enquiry into the health of the Sound.

He said the Government had not been proactive in its response or measuring the health of the waterway and believed if the environment was better monitored the large scale fish deaths could have been prevented.

“We deserve answers – people fish and swim here and are deeply concerned about what has happened,” he said.

“We need proper analysis, not more excuses.”

Last Friday, a Department of Fisheries spokesman said the cause for the deaths of pink snapper, cobbler, flathead, squid, leather jacket, starfish, blowfish and other species was an unknown natural event.

He said the systematic investigation focussed on evaluating dead fish samples, and testing included microscopic assessment of tissues using histopathology, bacterial culture, and the screening of fish tissue samples for evidence of a broad range of algal and chemical toxins.

The Department of Health stated the Sound was suitable for swimming, diving and recreation such as fishing, but urged people to not swim or fish in discoloured, murky or unpleasant smelling water or where there were large numbers of dead fish.

Any fish kills should be reported to FISHWATCH on 1800 815 507.