00:00There's no escape for these West Ballina residents amid the stench of rotting fish carcasses.
00:08This whole shore here was full of fish, you couldn't even walk on the sand.
00:12Picking up the remains after ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.
00:16The sadness of seeing all of these species, fish I've never seen before, disappear
00:21and they probably will disappear for a very long time.
00:24Third generation professional fisher Claire Joblin says it's heartbreaking
00:29and is concerned for her industry.
00:31I've seen a lot of dead fish definitely in the circular quay in Ballinas, pretty full on.
00:36A lot of female, you know, larger breeders, few crabs, lots of mullet,
00:42as you can see a few struggling on the surface here.
00:45She says the local fishing industry has been left in limbo.
00:49It'd be good if fisheries came and assessed it to see if we could be able to fish
00:53and see if compensation was necessary.
00:56The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development says
00:59the impacts of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred continues to be felt
01:03as poor water quality discharges from north coast floodplains.
01:07It blames the fish deaths on hypoxic water.
01:10This is what happens after a flood when rotting vegetation depletes the dissolved oxygen levels,
01:16falling to such a low level that marine life can't breathe.
01:20Essentially they are suffocating in this water.
01:23It's three years on from the region's last flood disaster and major fish kill.
01:29We can honestly say that it's a massive black water event, a big fish kill,
01:34and I'm hearing from community that it is bigger than the floods of 2022.
01:39While the clean-up gets underway, authorities warn more fish could die in the coming days and weeks.
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