About 600 adult Murray cod went into Lake Bonney
RecFish SA and local helpers released mature cod, some a metre long, into the Riverland lake. A fish scientist said they can reshape habitat, not that they will clear out carp.
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About 600 mature Murray cod, some up to a metre long, were released into Lake Bonney at Barmera in South Australia's Riverland in early October, the week before ABC's October 18, 2026, report. RecFish SA chief executive Asher Dezsery described the release. Cod had died out after the lake was cut off from the River Murray and after fish kills. Berri Barmera mayor Ella Winnall was among the people who helped put the fish in the water.
Charles Sturt University's Paul Humphries said the cod can work as habitat engineers in the food web. He did not say they are certain to reduce carp. Catch-and-release fishing is set to resume on January 1, 2027, and not during the breeding season. The news is the release of these adult fish. It is not a count of how many will spawn, or a promise that the lake's other fish will decline.
For the classroom
Murray cod are large Australian fish that can grow about a metre long. At Lake Bonney, beside the town of Barmera, people released about 600 adult cod in early October 2026. The fish had disappeared from the lake after it was cut off from the River Murray and after fish kills. A scientist said cod can shape the places they live by moving the bottom and feeding other animals. He did not say they will remove the carp. People may fish for them again under catch-and-release rules from January 1, 2027, outside the breeding season.
- Why had Murray cod disappeared from Lake Bonney?
- What is the difference between shaping a habitat and removing carp?
- Why does fishing wait until after the breeding season?
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