how clean is the brisbane river?

[oldboot]

I know a lot of people fish in the lower reaches of the river and arround the port and always have
But how clean is the river these days.
I expect things have cleaned up in recent years.

I mean fishing near lugage point has been a running joke since I was a kid.

I supose with modern environmental expectations things are different.

how clean is the river?
and are the fish caught there OK.

cheers

[theclick]

Well basically there is a large tidal flow in the river, meaning that alot of the junk that ends up in there gets flushed out twice daily.

Sewage released into rivers legally has to be up to a certain standard, and apparently that standard is safe for fish that are bound to be consumed by humans.

Greater worry would be in the upper stretches where the flow is less. ya get fertiliser run off, dead things, general eutrophication (forgot how to spell), bugs and so forth.

Downstream I can image there would be some oil deposits and heavy metals, but I guess if it were a problem, there would be signs everywhere saying dont eat the catch. And any fish cleaning tables provided at river side parks such as comslie seem to suggest that fish are able to be taken and eaten.

People here eat stuff out of the river all the time, so no probs if you COOK IT WELL.

HAving said that, the river got a D- or something in the latest test of its health. I think that has more to do with turbidity levels though

[Leeann]

Check out the details of our river and creek systems on the following website

http://www.healthywaterways.org/

Makes for some interesting reading. The poor old Logan River needs a bit of a helping hand

[Dodgy_Back]

Even though some will say that it's a lot cleaner now than in the past, all I can say is that the river must have been in a right mess in the past.

I don't fish the river as much as I should as it only takes 15 minutes to get to the ramp.

But if you cant see 1 foot into the river it must be dirty !!simplistic view, I know.

But I feel the river needs a lot of work to keep the cleaning process going.

Maybe the EPA should put some much needed resources into cleaning rivers up by stopping pollution getting into the bay.

Some great bags come out of the river and the close by islands, with a bit more of a cleanup the fishing will only get better .

Mick

[finga]

The poor old Logan River needs a bit of a helping hand

I live a whole block away from the Logan and have not put the in it (near the SE freeway) for over 3 years.
Why??
Every time I walk on the ramp I slip over in all the gunk, mud and slush on it and it takes me 5X times longer to clean the boat when I get home.
When you do get the boat in it's a full time job looking out for 'floaties' in the water which can vary from car diffs to trees to tyres to god knows what else.
I reckon it's pretty close to been able to walk across the river here with all the crud in it

[Foxy4]

It was not all that bad to fish in back in the 60s and 70s. Mowbray park through to Dutton Park was all good. The old Dry Docks (now Southbank and that area) had many good Mud Crabs and perch.

[Dirtysanchez]

Well I wouldn't be sourcing my sashimi fillets from there
However I am sure fish that roam around a lot would be fine if eaten occasionally and cooked thoroughly

I'd be happy just to be catching a fish to be honest

[juju]

I dont eat fish, but if i did i dont think i could eat one that came from there.......i think id do a Monty Burns

[oldboot]

Hmmm..... notice i didn't ask about the logan......that river needs an enema.

so mixed opinions about the bris river then

cheers

[manchild]

Since you didnt asked about the Logan river may i say i eat fish out of there all the time lower reaches of course.So far so good.Having caught squire in there i no really fussed as this fish will not be in dirty water for long.
George
Whats an enema?

[richieboy]

One of the snaps I pulled from Mud last week spilled it's stuff all over my deck. After closer examination I discovered it had definately been feeding in the river of late. Go figure............Tasted great tonight as I'm sure any fish from the Bay Isles would. Despite feeding in the Brisbane River that is.

Richie

[jackextracter]

I have heard the bream feed from the crap pipe but would the snapper too?

[plaztix]

Eaten quite a few fish from the river.

Not sick, not dead.........

I admit its not the most pleasant or cleanest place to pull a fish for the plate, but it holds some good fish.

[Louis]

It's hard to believe but there have been a few times when I've seen the Brisbane River crystal clean.

Last time was circa 1998.

It was crystal clean for about a week or so.

I remember being near Mowbray Park and seeing mullet swim past about 6ft below. The water was crystal clear. No suspeneded silt at all.

Has any other Ausfishers experienced this phenomenom?

Does anyone know why this happens?



Louis

[Juzo]

know a bloke who works for the water department testing water quality. He reckons to stay away from the filter feeders, crabs ect. I wouldn't eat muddies from the river cause thats where all the crap ends up. I have eaten plenty of fish from the river, but find they don't taste as 'clean' as fish caught out in the bay. I do eat a few prawns when they run, cause they are nice and big and 'good' and it's hard to go past casting up a bucket from the local jetty, but try not to do it too much.

Juzo