Australian Authorities Relocating Surviving Fish Post Drought

Sarah Marro
October 4, 2019

Since the beginning of January 2019 Australia has been facing a major environmental epidemic: a major drought has drastically impacted many of their ecosystems. One of the notably affected ecosystems is the one inhabiting Australia’s Darling River. Hundreds of thousands of floating fish have been found dead and washed up on its banks. According to local authorities, the drought and consequential extreme weather killed an algae bloom that had been crucial in the ecosystem. Specifically, the falling temperatures of the extreme weather caused the decomposition of the algal bloom which then created a significant depletion of oxygen in the water. This reduced the ability of fish and other aquatic life to find food and breathe effectively and as evidenced by the traumatic mortality rate of fish in the Darling River, caused entire populations to die. Local Australians have blamed the state and federal governments for mismanaging the environment and argue that climate change has just amplified the mortality rate and the destruction of this ecosystem and others. As of October 2019 Australian authorities are now diligently trying to relocate as many fish as possible downstream where the ecosystem has not been as disrupted. 

 (Fish Tossed Downstream in Darling River, Australia BBC News)

This pressing environmental issue connects to our ecology course in many ways. Not only is it an example of how biotic factors heavily depend on abiotic factors, it is an example of how all of the aspects of an ecosystem are connected and dependent on each other for life. The decomposition of the algal bloom directly impacted the amount of oxygen in the water available for the fish inhibiting the Darling River. The abiotic factor -- the drought -- caused a mortality rate of tens of thousands of fish. This epidemic also connects to our course in the sense that it shows how humans also play a hand in environmental affairs. Weather and natural disasters like droughts are a result of how humans consume and emit waste that seeps into the atmosphere and creates changes in climate and rainfall and temperature. Locals were adamant that human-induced climate change was an amplifying factor in the mortality of the tens of thousands of fish. 

I think this effort to relocate fish post mass death in the Darling River is an atrocious example of how we humans are simply reactionary when it comes to environmental issues. Only after hurricanes and severe weather storms do we send relief or aid because it’s to repair damages. Only after droughts do we start to work on understanding rainfall and how our consumption and waste impacts that. Only after national overshoot day do we collectively see that we need to pick up pollution from the ocean. This epidemic in Australia is no different. The locals have a right to be outraged in my opinion as they see this mortality of fish as the direct result of mismanagement of resources and the river by authorities and lack of seriousness toward climate change. Australian Ministers still fail to see how a drought has any correlation to human behavior when the truth of the matter is that there is a big correlationI think humans as one of the largest impact populations need to do better trying to consciously see how our actions can result in major ecological disruption. I specifically mean this in a forward-thinking and proactive way, rather than understanding in retrospect that we caused a disruption and are now responsible for cleaning up our mess. If proactive measures are taken each day by individuals then the mess to clean up or the disruptions we are seeing constantly now will cease and sustainable ecosystems will redevelop. 

Reference:

Mao, Frances. "Evacuating Australia's Drought-Affected Fish." BBC News, 4 Oct. 2019. BBC News, www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-49929733/evacuating-australia-s-drought-affected-fish. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.