Rather than rejuvenating the scallop bed, closure just let scallops die of old age. More here
Fishing
Soil Chemistry, Irrigation and the Disappearance of Murray Cod
I visited the State Library of South Australia today looking for information on species of fish caught by the Ngarrindjeri in the Lower Lakes at the time of European settlement.
It is evident from the writing of the Reverend George Taplin (who ran the mission on the Narrung Peninsula) that there were Murray Cod in the Lakes and that they were a “forbidden” food for boys.
The local Ngarrindjeri name for them was “Ponde”.
Susan Myers from LakesNeedWater.org has been sending me newspaper articles on the history of the fishery including the following from the Adelaide Advertiser of October 13, 1933, giving reasons for the “Disappearance of Cod”:
[Read more…] about Soil Chemistry, Irrigation and the Disappearance of Murray Cod
Invasive Carp in the US
Voltage coursing through electrical barriers designed to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes may need to be raised to keep out juvenile fish, U.S. officials said on Friday. Read more here.
Black Water Kills Tens of Thousands of Murray Cod
Yesterday, Wakool farmer John Lolicato told me about recent fish kills in the southern Riverina. Click here to listen to our conversation: WS450079
The fish kills were caused by black water with tens of thousands of Murray Cod dying over the last four years.
The enormous (1.4 metre long) Murray Cod being held up by two farmers is just one of many large fish found floating in the Lower Wakool River following a black water event last year.
The Wakool is an anabranch of the Murray, click on the map for a better and larger view.
What’s Not Important to Murray River Modellers
I stayed in a house by the Murray River just upstream from Barham in the Central Murray Valley in November 2007. Every morning I drank a large glass of water from the kitchen tap; water that had been pumped straight from the river. The water tasted fine, and I didn’t get sick.
In the afternoon, I sometimes swam in the river. It was deep and there was often a strong current because water was being released from Hume Dam.
The bird life was especially amazing, with wood ducks on the river, cockatoos and galahs on the lawn, superb blue wrens amongst the roses and red-rumped grass parrots in the red gums.
According to Penny Wong, then Minister for Climate Change and Water, the two-year period to November 2007 recorded the lowest ever inflow to the Murray River. Inflows during that period were 43 percent lower than previous record lows which occurred at the end of 1938.
[Read more…] about What’s Not Important to Murray River Modellers
New Marine Data Website
THERE is now a website where, at least theoretically, anyone can download near-real time data on ocean temperatures, salinity and currents for the Australian marine environment.
The Australian government contributed $52 million to the development of the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) developed by the University of Tasmania with support from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. According to government information, “support will also be provided for the eMarine Information Infrastructure to store, analyse, retrieve and share data once it has been collected”.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
