Desalination Plant found to be linked to fish kills

[Tacklebags 404]

What the hell took you so long TB' date=' chucked in some berley & you came in hook line & sinker mate. Now what makes you think that my post was aimed at you? :woohoo: :woohoo:[/quote']I never thought it was aimed at me Jaffa?My comments were purely plutonic. While I will probably always have some issues with the way commercial fishers are managed I have changed my view of commercial fishing especially lately.With knowledge comes understanding and you, Ale and others outside of here have helped me to look at things more hollistically.I have had conversations with AFMA scientists across the super trawler issue and marine parks etc in an effort to become less partial in my views.Not saying I will loose my rec fishing advocacy but I do seek to be more constructive than many who still simply call for bans on those who fish for a living.CheersTB

[Tacklebags 404]

Out of character short memory T bizzle' date='3 /4 page down, this was the second time it was brought up: http://www.strikehook.com/forum/22-saltwater-fishing/254182-desal-public-can-put-their-heads-in-the-sand?start=15[/quote']Arhh yes the trawlers that haven't operated since June 2012. Thanks for the reminder!

[rotare 491]

With knowledge comes understanding and you, Ale and others outside of here have helped me to look at things more hollistically.

That's refreshing to hear tackle bags. Kudo's to you mate. I think we're all guilty at times of being a bit narrow minded with our beliefs and opinions

[Ale 301]

I just had look up what hollistically means All good

I think we're all guilty at times of being a bit narrow minded with our beliefs and opinions

Me, opinionated, you think mate?

[jaffa 81]

Hey ppl, TB, have to say I`m staggered,shocked, surprised & impressed. Having been both sides of the fence it is distressing to see those individuals that are doing the right thing get a bum wrap, I can wear criticism that is justified, & I will condemn those that are doing & have done the wrong thing in an instant. As for the "science", well I just don`t believe that the Gov`t of the day will ever present/is capable of the truth whether it be about the Desal Plant or anything else. If it suits their agenda they will lie about it,mis-report it,fabricate it,or distort it. TV stations mis-represent stuff all the time in order to get ratings, they`re guilty of the same crap as the Gov`ts of the day so that`s why I tend to rely on what I see/know from experience, 60 years of documented fishing between me & my old man in the Goannas/Long Spit area is worth way more than any Gov`t science/modelling/stats, IMO anyway. I don`t see longlining as the biggest problem, I see the increased effort by 50 foot boats owned by fish processors as the problem, they are never forced home by weather like the little guys are, they can just sit there re-baiting until their holds are full. These boats are directly responsible for the increased tonnage being taken in northern St Vinnies & they should be the target, not everyone in the industry,hence the incentive introduced to try to get them to fish out of the gulf (500kg/day in the Gulf & 700kg/day out of it & 3 day trip limits). There are some bad seeds in the industry just as there are bad seeds in society in general, happy to condemn them when they do the wrong thing. There are good ppl in the game that are very conscious of the need to conserve if they are going to hand over to their kids/future generations. They are just trying to make their living according to the rules laid out by the powers that be, & believe me they pay heavily for the privilege of "Access to the Resource". Having waffled all of that lot out, as Rotare said, kudos to you TB for modifying your stance a little. Cheers all.

[rotare 491]

So any more updates on this topic?

[jaffa 81]

Hey ppl, I haven`t heard any more on the subject.

[Ale 301]

All Ive read is some more rubbish on the other forum

[rotare 491]

urhookedfished wrote:

Yes, the Majority of the fish were in an around the Pt Stanvac area, but at this point in time im not prepared to go back and provide numbers and specific locations as this would be quite time consuming, and I suspect that you really are aware that the majority were north and south of the Desal along the Southern coastline, with smaller numbers around Brighton. This brings up an important point though, why hasn't the Government publicised a map of recorded points at which fish and other animals have been located dead?

Since this thread has gone a little quiet, thought I'd do some googling and found this:

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fishmortalities/qandaWhere have deceased fish been found? Fish Kill Reports - LocationPort Neill - FishCowell - FishPort Lincoln - FishPort Vincent - FishChristies Beach - FishSeaford Beach - FishHallett Cove - FishAldinga Beach - FishMoana Beach - FishYorke Peninsula - FishPort Hughes - FishPoint Turton - FishStansbury - FishWest Lakes Shore/Tennyson - FishPort MacDonnell to SouthEnd - Abalone

I think it's fair to say the assumption that the majority of the dead fish were found in the "Port Stanvac area", is incorrect. Unless of course someone can provide some other stats which aren't based on heresay.... And on the same website it goes on to say:

Is the fish mortality event likely to be related to a point source pollution event such as:1.A discharge at a wastewater treatment facility,2.The clean-up work at the facility at Pt Stanvac, or3.A vessel releasing chemicals, ballast water or fertiliser, from its cargo? No, based on the geographical spread of mortalities (from Port Lincoln to Mt Gambier) and the fact that the deaths have been ongoing over several weeks the fish kill is not related to any single point source pollution event. Any pollution event associated with these activities would likely dilute to the point they have no impact before travelling any significant distance, let alone the hundreds of kilometres over which these kills have taken place. Are fish dying because of the desalination plant? No. The EPA has categorically ruled out any link to the desalination plant. How do we know the water quality around the desalination plant is safe? The outlets of the desalination plant and surrounding water are monitored multiple times each day and the results demonstrate full compliance with EPA licence conditions at all times. The results including measurements assessing dissolved oxygen and salinity show that levels are within the range for a normal healthy marine ecosystem. This data is available on the EPA website.

[Tacklebags 404]

Rotare, I am a bit dissappointed that the Fukishima Nuclear Power leak was not included? :silly: :woohoo:

[urhookedfish 12]

Yes if you look at all of the fish kills on a whole. But if you are analysing Metropolitan fish kills in Gulf St Vincent, last time I checked:Christies BeachSeaford BeachHallet CoveMoana BeachAldinga BeachAre all up and down from the Port Stanvac area. These are all southern beaches. there is only one northern area in amongst these southern beaches and if you look on a map these are not that far apart.

[silaflex 103]

Yes if you look at all of the fish kills on a whole. But if you are analysing Metropolitan fish kills in Gulf St Vincent' date=' last time I checked:Christies BeachSeaford BeachHallet CoveMoana BeachAldinga BeachAre all up and down from the Port Stanvac area. These are all southern beaches. there is only one northern area in amongst these southern beaches and if you look on a map these are not that far apart.[/quote']So you insinuating the desal plant is to blame?? Who'd have thought.

[rotare 491]

Yes if you look at all of the fish kills on a whole. But if you are analysing Metropolitan fish kills in Gulf St Vincent' date=' last time I checked:[/quote']Urhookedfish. The original Today Tonight report that you posted and make reference to refers to fish kills all along our coastline (refer to first 3 seconds of that video link) - I didn't realise the coastline refers to just metropolitan beaches in the vicinity of Port Stanvac :whistle: But I totally understand why you would want to dismiss any dead fish washed up anywhere around the same time...... I mean dead fish washing up outside of the general area of the desal plant would probably indicate it probably wasn't an isolated, location specific event.... :pinch:

[waspy 3]

I think you mean the dead fish washed up along our southern beaches as said by the presenter after the metropoliton beaches ,can anyone here tell us if they observed fish being washed up at brighton or glenelg or henly beach ,grange ect ,if it was such a horrific algal bloom would it not have effected the westlakes system ,or the port river system with dead fish everywhere.This proffessor i presume is lecturing in oceonography at flinders and if so i believe he would have a greater knowledge of marine environs than i do or any government stooge/minister who will no doubt be in charge of some other portfolio if this government is elected again.I am afraid that i would not trust this, or any governments spin on an occurance like this mainly for the simple reason they could not tell the truth even if they wanted to ,with the problems that the desal plant has had even during the construction stage and now being moth balled ,it would be the straw that broke the camels back to say that this plant was the cause for the mass fish kills ,if anyone here has evidence of fish kills in other parts of the state or metro coastline let us know here .I as many other southern residents are very concerned about this and i can see U.H.F has a passion for this to be sorted ,belitleing him and others for there opinions serves no purpose at all,it will be interesting to see if there is another occurance like this happens and what the minister of the day will say caused it .

[fridge 6]

i was intrigued by the hot spot just off ki shown on that infra red map,how the hell that water warmed there ive no idea as far as i know its bloody deep.under current from penneshaw?if you trust this government your a mug punter,thats the only thing conclusive with this government

[Tacklebags 404]

There was a wide spread algal bloom but did the desal have an increased localised effect on top of this algal bloom event around PT Stanvac? That is the only question IMHO...Two sets of EPA data only serve to polarize the issue and others opinions of how that could happen perhaps?There was a dodge tide which transpired on the 21st and 22nd of March when one looks at the EPA data but the lack of evidence for dissolved oxygen in one set of the EPA charts suggests no algal bloom effect around PT Stanvac? Those desal sensors would have picked up the data if significant/ accurate.However, if this oxygen depletion only took place out deep do we know what depth baby leatheries etc are known to inhabit?

[urhookedfish 12]

There was a wide spread algal bloom but did the desal have an increased localised effect on top of this algal bloom event around PT Stanvac? That is the only question IMHO...Two sets of EPA data only serve to polarize the issue and others opinions of how that could happen perhaps?There was a dodge tide which transpired on the 21st and 22nd of March when one looks at the EPA data but the lack of evidence for dissolved oxygen in one set of the EPA charts suggests no algal bloom effect around PT Stanvac? Those desal sensors would have picked up the data if significant/ accurate.However' date=' if this oxygen depletion only took place out deep do we know what depth baby leatheries etc are known to inhabit?[/quote']Ive encountered the schools at as deep as 35M out in the middle of the gulf, and also in approx 20m just off of Pt Stanvac. I'm not sure of what total depth of water the outlet pipe sits in given that it is located 1.6km offshore, but I would estimate that it would still sit in 20plus Metres of water and of course about 8m off the bottom

[fridge 6]

if this oxygen depletion only took place out deep do we know what depth baby leatheries etc are known to inhabit?googled the guts out of that also tb,probably looking in the wrong places :whistle:

[chuckemback 0]

What about all the weed that pilled up on Glenelg beach at the same time that the fish were washing up? Do algal blooms also kill weed beds/ sea grass? The weed was pilled up 6 foot high in some places around the same time as the fish deaths on Glenelg beach , surley a concern!

[fridge 6]

I'm not sure of what total depth of water the outlet pipe sits in given that it is located 1.6km offshore, but I would estimate that it would still sit in 20plus Metres of water and of course about 8m off the bottomif its that good for the enviroment then it should hold fish,want to pick up fish in the darwin harbour,find the rocks that cover the gasline

[Tacklebags 404]

What about all the weed that pilled up on Glenelg beach at the same time that the fish were washing up? Do algal blooms also kill weed beds/ sea grass? The weed was pilled up 6 foot high in some places around the same time as the fish deaths on Glenelg beach ' date=' surley a concern![/quote']Seaweed does pile up on beaches some years and this is not caused by man but are natural events. Seagrasses are different and don't do this unless something is drastically wrong.I have already provided this information a month or so back in response to tonyB's concerns on said topic.

[Tacklebags 404]

I'm not sure of what total depth of water the outlet pipe sits in given that it is located 1.6km offshore' date=' but I would estimate that it would still sit in 20plus Metres of water and of course about 8m off the bottomif its that good for the enviroment then it should hold fish,want to pick up fish in the darwin harbour,find the rocks that cover the gasline[/quote']Reference the tables from page 6 to page 9 on this report for tidal depth range. 17.5 to 19.5 average for that time of year.http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/xstd_files/Water/Report/salinity_ph_do_mar13.pdfThe graph on page 9 shows a massive water temp drop consistent with the satellite images shown on this forum and the ceasation of the algal bloom events often associated with warm water. No doubt at around that time period the micro-organisms were eating the algae and reducing dissolved oxygen levels. However, this would be shown on the page 7 chart if dissolved oxygen nose dived around the vicinity of the desal.TB

[chuckemback 0]

Just another coincidence yay? Weed has never piled up there in my 35 years of fishin the area like it has since that March storm, now it is a regular thing it appears. Yes it used to pile up at Largs ,wasn't that due to the sewerage works that killed of sea grass beds the sizes of many AAMI stadiums I recall being said by Govt scientist ten or so years ago. Same shit different spot. My garden veggies boomed with desal water over summer.

[waspy 3]

Well mate i can remember weed being pilled up after storms along the coast in the 60's when i was a lad ,we just havent had any real storms for a long time ,i remember a time my old man took me down to the esplanade at brighton the waves and storm were so powerfull the waves would hit the seawall and come over and hit the espy front wall ,they were jetty breakers .

[Tacklebags 404]

Just another coincidence yay? Weed has never piled up there in my 35 years of fishin the area like it has since that March storm' date=' now it is a regular thing it appears. Yes it used to pile up at Largs ,wasn't that due to the sewerage works that killed of sea grass beds the sizes of many AAMI stadiums I recall being said by Govt scientist ten or so years ago. Same shit different spot. My garden veggies boomed with desal water over summer.[/quote']As waspy has stated...big dumps of seaweed happen when natural conditions are favourable followed by unusally strong wind events.If it is seagrasses washing up by the tonnes, then that is a concern.TB

[Just Me 0]

I'm not real familiar with the PT Stanvac waters, but as an eg, 1.6km off Brighton would have you between 5-8mt depending on tides and you'd need to travel a few kays to get to 20mt depths.Is it different around Stanvac?

[waspy 3]

JM i rekon you would be in around 17 18 mtrs down that way .