Murray-Darling fish kill: authority shelved fish health strategy in 2013

Plan called for 50-year commitment to restoring native fish numbers, but was canned after NSW pulled funding

The Murray Darling Basin Authority shelved its native fish strategy six years ago and ended its sustainable rivers audit program after New South Wales pulled 60% of its funding from a basinwide program to monitor the health of fish in the river.

For 10 years the MDBA made much of its fish strategy, releasing a glossy brochure that claimed the strategy required a "sustained commitment" of 50 years in order to rehabilitate native fish in the river. It announced a goal of "restoring native fish stocks to 60% of its pre-European levels."