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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/26/were-watching-it-get-worse-all-the-time-as-fish-vanish-in-sas-algal-bloom-livelihoods-are-also-at-stake>
"Nathan Eatts can remember the last day he caught a squid. It was 18 April, a
few weeks after a brown foam and dead marine life began appearing on beaches on
South Australia’s Fleurieu peninsula.
“That’s over three months now,” says the third generation squid fisher, whose
business, Cape Calamari, is based on the southern Fleurieu peninsula.
“Everyone just sort of says ‘go fish for something else’, but it’s not that
simple, because we’re under a quota system and 95% of what I fish for is
calamari.”
Since March, Eatts has seen dead stingrays, fish and a dolphin – and that’s
just at his local beach in Normanville. It is both emotionally and financially
devastating. “Last time I fished, I caught four whiting,” he says. “That
doesn’t pay any bills, it puts eight fillets on my table.”
The toxic algal bloom that has killed thousands of marine animals around the
state has put fishers like him under pressure in areas including Kangaroo
Island and the St Vincent and Spencer gulfs. Squid fishers like Eatts were
among the first to feel the impact of the disaster on their business.
“We’re trying to be optimistic about squid as it’s one thing we haven’t seen
wash up dead,” Eatts says.
“We’re hoping they’re in deeper water waiting for this to clear but until this
clears we just have to sit back and wait, and we’re watching it get worse all
the time. It’s heartbreaking.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
