Lake Tyers Estuary opened to the sea in the early hours of Tuesday 18 February 2025.
Since the opening there have been no reports of fish deaths. There are reports of many birds and ducks in the area, and the lake is very clear.
On Tuesday afternoon (of the opening) the East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (CMA), with support from Parks Victoria carried out water quality monitoring across the lake. The oxygen levels at Toorloo Arm were extremely low (2% at surface) and were also low in Boggy Creek (40%). All other sites across the lake had moderate to high oxygen levels.
The East Gippsland CMA were concerned by these results and were keeping a close eye on the lake, asking people to contact them if fish were looking to be impacted.
Bec Hemming, CEO East Gippsland CMA said, “on Wednesday afternoon, East Gippsland Shire Council and East Gippsland CMA staff saw a couple hundred of small fish had gone belly up near the Nowa Nowa wetlands walk.”
“We were starting to think that this was the start of more bad news to come.”
On Thursday afternoon further inspections were undertaken in Toorloo Arm and no dead fish were found.
“We were relieved with this news. There isn’t a lot of science on fish movement during estuary openings. We suspect they move downstream towards the ocean, and where there is more oxygen,” said Bec.
“The lake is looking great, the water is clear, there are lots of waterbirds enjoying the changes in conditions and we are hearing reports that the fishing is a little hit and miss.”
“It is great to see the agencies working together. East Gippsland Shire Council have done a power of work to clean up the facilities at Nowa Nowa and Lake Tyers Beach; the community have kept everyone up to date with the changes in the lake and providing reports to agencies. Parks Victoria and Gippsland Ports have provided ongoing support with monitoring conditions and intelligence. We thank everyone for their contributions and hope the conditions in the lake continue to improve”.
“We continue to learn from each estuary opening, as every estuary system and opening is different,” added Bec.
