Spirit Fish and the Mighty Murray
By Paul Sinclair, Waterkeepers Australia
Henry Jones loves fish so much he bought his wife a commercial deep fryer so she could cook fresh fish and chips for their kids and grandkids.

All his life, Henry has been a commercial fisherman, along with five generations of his family. But today, when Henry wants to show his grandkids silver perch, blackfish, catfish or Murray cod, the fish that made up his catch 20 years ago, he can only show them pictures. These fish are now extinct from the Coorong, the huge wetland system at the end of the great Murray River system. Henry believes that two-thirds of the Coorong is now dead.

The Murray is Australian’s greatest river. For much of its length, the Murray flows through country that can feel as hot and dry as the Sahara Desert. It meanders 2,570 km (1,600 miles) from its headwaters near the east coast of the continent to the Southern Ocean. But 75 percent of the Murray’s flow is removed before it reaches the ocean, mostly for irrigation, and an estimated 10 percent of native fish populations in the Murray remain from pre-European settlement.

Murray cod, Australia’s biggest and longest-living inland native fish, started spiralling towards extinction in the 1950s. Because the river can no longer naturally replenish healthy populations of cod, over one million fish are artificially raised and then poured into the Murray River system each year. Astounding it is, that a river that provided people with Murray cod for more than 30,000 years now relies on people to provide it with Murray cod.

Murray cod are a spirit fish. Aboriginal creation stories tell of how the meandering river courses were formed by the thrashing body of a giant cod trying to escape the spear of a hunter. When the hunter caught the giant cod near the Coorong, he threw his spear deep into the fish’s body. Flesh from the speared fish flew into the air and fell back into the river, to become the other 27 species of native fish who call the river home. Aboriginal peoples along the river are still fighting to be recognized as stewards of the great fish and its river.

Murray cod has been feeding people for thousands of years. About 25,000 years ago a young woman that archaeologists named “Mungo Woman” was cremated in the Murray River Basin. The ritual cremation of Mungo Woman is the oldest evidence ever found on Earth of human communities showing respect for the dead. Nearby were the charred bones of animals that had sustained her life. They included the remains of Murray cod.

For 100 years, trainloads of cod supplied Australian cities for their dinner tables, but today not a single wild Murray cod can be found in a city market. The spirit fish has disappeared from the lives of many Australians. Henry Jones hasn’t caught a Murray cod in the Coorong for 15 years.

When I ask Henry how he feels about the catastrophe facing the Murray he says: “Mate, this is a unique place but in the last 20 years we’ve lost so much. We don’t have a right to do this to the river. I won’t accept it. While there’s a breath in my mouth I’ll keep telling people what the Coorong was like.”

A major cause of the Murray’s decline is unsustainable water-use. The dairy and rice industries in the Murray river system use almost four times more water than all the 8,800,000 people who live in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. Most of what’s grown with irrigation water is exported. So while Australia is the driest inhabited continent, it is the fourth largest exporter of virtual water on Earth. And while irrigated agriculture accounts for about 70 percent of all the water used in Australia, it contributes less than one percent to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product and five percent of our exports. It does not make sense for one sector of the Australian economy to control so much of our water.

Unsustainable water use, coupled with drought – which all Australian governments agree has been made worse by human-induced climate change – is delivering a knockout punch to vast areas of red gum forests. River red gum forests are home to birds, bugs and reptiles who need the river to regularly rise up through its banks to survive. The floods that once sustained these forests are now captured in dams and used to grow rice or grass for cows. In 2002 about 50 percent of the mighty river red gum trees along a 1,000 kilometre stretch of river were dead or dying; two years later, the number had skyrocketed to 75 percent.

Stewardship of the Murray means taking action now to recover water for the river. Scientists report that a 30 percent drop in water consumption will go far. With just under half its natural flow, the Murray could sustain its land, fish, birds and water quality. Though governments have admitted the river is in trouble, they have committed to reduce water use by only five percent by 2008. So far, not a drop of that water has been returned.

But the Murray has little time left. Governments should buy water from irrigators at a fair price now, or require them to give up a percentage of their water allocation to the river each year, until the river has enough water to be a river again.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians frequent the Murray’s banks each year to fish, camp and relax. If these people contribute to the renewal of their cherished river through price levies, governments could generate enough money to pay for the ongoing repair of the Murray River System.

Irrigation industries, too, should have stronger obligations to the river. One reason why so much water is taken out of the Murray is that it’s seemingly free; the ecological costs are passed on to the taxpayer. The price of irrigation water should include a charge that can be reinvested back into the Murray’s renewal.

People who buy products that are produced using Murray water should also know how water efficient and environmentally responsible the producer is. Consumers should be able to choose the good from the bad. This already happens with products as diverse as washing machines, heaters and eggs – so why not apply it to rice, dairy, vegetables and wine grown with Murray River water?

Stewardship means taking pride in our country, our land, our water. Could any Australian honestly say they are proud to send Murray cod into extinction? Over 1,000 kilometres of dead and dying river red gum is not a tribute to our greatness as a nation. Restoring the Murray, creating a sustainable irrigation industry and dramatically cutting our greenhouse gas emissions will be something of real and lasting benefit to those Australians who are still a twinkle in their mother and father’s eyes.

Australians have a right to clean water, to swim in water free of disease and poison, and to enjoy abundant wild native fish. It is the duty of our government to protect clean water and river systems on behalf of the Australian people. And it is our duty to hold government officials accountable when they idly watch our precious river systems collapse.

Our challenge is to bring together communities and individuals who will fight in the defense of these rights and force governments and industry to make food production sustainable, urban water-use wise and river systems healthy.

The Murray can be revived. But we need to rediscover pride in our country and create a future to be proud of. When we do, the river will be renewed. Wild Murray cod will once again be so abundant that they will grace our dinner tables. Henry Jones will then be able to put away his pictures and take his grandkids fishing for real Murray cod down in the Coorong.