ABC cover Fish exclusion screens installed on Macquarie River

Posted 4hours ago

The major intake pump at the Trangie to Nevertire Irrigation Scheme is being screened.(ABC Western Plains: Jessie Davies)

Every year 100 million fish are killed by irrigation pumps throughout the Murray Darling Basin — but a simple solution could stop the carnage.

A fish exclusion screen acts as a physical barrier to stop fish being sucked into large pipes and macerated.

For the first time in New South Wales, a large screen is being installed on a major pump that feeds 33 farms from the Macquarie River, near Trangie.

NSW Department of Primary Industries research scientist Craig Boys said the installation would save hundreds of fish a day.

"It’s a huge opportunity to support the recovery of native fish in the basin," Dr Boys said.

"They've been under a lot of stress lately through drought, and we've all seen the fish kills, so this is a hugely significant project."

A man in a yellow shirt and hard hat stands by the Macquarie River at Trangie. — NSW Department of Primary Industries fish ecologist Craig Boys says the project will help native fish stocks.

Fishy problem

Studies have shown a single large river pump can extract 12,000 fish a day.

For irrigators, dealing with the by-products of dead fish is costly and unpleasant.

An older man with longish, fair hair, dressed in high-vis and tinkering with a hose attachment. — Jim Winter says fish screens will help stop blockages in lateral irrigators.(ABC Western Plains: Jessie Davies)

"Once the fish get stuck in the pipes you can't get them out," irrigator Jim Winter said.

"This is a win-win for us and the environment."

A fish swimming towards a screen designed to stop it from being juiced by an irrigation pump. — The screen changes the water velocity around irrigation pumps, preventing the extraction of fish.(Supplied: AWMA Water Control Solutions)

Restocking 'madness'

Keen angler and river advocate Matt Hansen has been campaigning for all major pumps in the basin to be screened.

He has even travelled to the United States, where the screens are mandatory, to research best practice.

He says it doesn't make sense for governments to restock rivers with native fish while allowing them to be extracted.

"Restocking native fish is a band-aid solution," he said.

"It's madness to stock two to three million fish a year while sucking 50 to 100 million out.

A man in a blue shirt leaning on a utility tray in a paddock. — Trangie irrigator Jason McCutcheon is excited about the rollout of fish screens.(ABC Western Plains: Jessie Davies)

An example for all

Trangie farmer Jason McCutcheon hoped the technology would be taken up by irrigation groups across Australia.

"We're going to push to have other irrigators come on board so they can see the benefits," Mr McCutcheon said.

The screen installation at Trangie cost $1 million and was paid for by the NSW Government with money made from the sale of environmental water in 2018.