Australia: Flooding of the Fitzroy River is being blamed for the death of at least 6,000 fish near Rockhampton in central Queensland
The fish, including up to 1,500 barramundi, were found in the Woolwash Lagoon on the city’s southern outskirts.
The river is expected to peak at 7.5 metres later this week.
Fish researcher Bill Sawynok says they appear to have died in a natural process that occurs during flooding.
“With the rising flood waters, it’s inundated the vegetation which after a few days starts to rot,” he said.
“That actually takes the oxygen out of the water and therefore the fish basically don’t have any oxygen to breathe.”
