Sewerage Creeks

Fishful · Post by **Fishful** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 11:39 am

What does everyone think about fish/crabs caught from creeks where there is a sewer treatment plant that feeds into the creek ? Ie Buffalo Crk and Blesser Crk. I have been up the top of Buffalo Creek on several occassions and the color of the water is a greeny algae color. Buffalo Creek continues to produce good fish and crabs, is that due to all the nutrients in the water. You are what you eat ???

harmsey · Post by **harmsey** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 11:44 am

yeah thats a tuff one because i recon half the fish in darwin have swam through some poo at some stage of thier darwin waterway adventures! (larakeah etc)crabs basically live on cr.p on the bottom of the creeks anyway but it not a nice thought! dont think people have got sick from it but???

Travis · Post by **Travis** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:38 pm

Mates and I used to ride bikes in to fish "Green creek" (flows into Buffalo creek) during and just after the wet many years ago as kids. We fished right at the sewerage outlet mainly with live bait and occasionally lures and nearly always got at least a couple of legal barra on the high tide and sometimes half a dozen or more. We never kept any for ourselves but did sell a fair few to a local chinese/fish and chip shop that was open back then

. Never heard of anyone getting sick from it and the owners of the shop were always happy to buy from us, they never asked where we got the fish from so we thought it best not to tell them

.

Cheers,
Travis

Kevin Kevinson · Post by **Kevin Kevinson** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:43 pm

Harmesy, fishful,

I can understand where you are coming from, but surely the discharges would disperse pretty quick wouldnt they??

I crab rapid creek in my inflatable and this past crabbing season got the biggest fullest bucks from Rapid Creek with litter and sh*t everywhere.

Have crabbed shoal bay and buff creek heaps, but not in the same cosmos as good ole rapid creek, (based on results anyway)

and for the eating...

full of meat and taste just fine.

p.s. Got a few strange looks when I had the inflatable in buff creek friday night

Opes · Post by **Opes** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:46 pm

Ive been crabbing in Ludmilla creek/Racecourse creek for years, near the east point sewerage outlet, we havent had any ill effects from them yet. Perhaps I'll grow warts or something soon!

2rods · Post by **2rods** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:04 pm

The water exchange in the harbour is not as much as you would expect it to be from memory only about 18% evn on spring tides... so our poo goes in there and not much of it get washed out to sea

Having said that I don't think it is a huge problem.. not Ideal but we can live with it until they fix it in the next year or 2.

As for the creeks full of poo.... When I catch a barra with a blind mullet in it's mouth I will not eat it.. I'll give it to the mother-in-law

2rods

Fishful · Post by **Fishful** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:27 pm

I was in Thailand a couple years ago and ate a raw oyster. That was a bad move. As soon as it went down I felt the stomach rumble. Oysters are filter feeders and get all the bad stuff.
I am sure Buff Crk, etc, would be fine. It is not raw sewerage, but I still dont like the idea of it.

harmsey · Post by **harmsey** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 2:10 pm

i think it is just mind over matter. if the water was to bad the fish would die anyway, and i have been up rapid and seen the cr.p that is right up the end and the crabs love it pulled a couple out of there myself

max · Post by **max** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:02 pm

I didnt know there was an outlet in bleesers where abouts is it

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:24 pm

I was in Buff creek not so long ago on a pretty low tide chasing some crabs, got 4 and a couple of Mangrove Jacks whilst waiting. The last off the water going out looked real ordinary.

Ate the crabs and only thought how sweet they still tasted after eating and living in that creek. The mother outlaw was here and she had the MJ's and said they were great

. I prefer the fish from the nice blue stuff or uncontaminated creeks myself.

rossco · Post by **rossco** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:23 pm

Like the others I have been happily eating from the same creeks without a problem. Although I do get a glow up in the dark! Green creek was always good fun in the old days. We caught some big fish in there. They only used to come up on the big tides and really would only be there for a short time. We fed a heap of people at a wedding once with fish from there. No problem at all - anyone who was crook we blamed on the beer !! cheers

GLS · Post by **GLS** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 11:03 am

I just cant get by the idea of eating someone elses cr.p. You would image that the micro biological count for small rivers with sewage outlets running into them would be well above that of those that do not. Just means you increase the chance of getting sick I suppose.

danos · Post by **danos** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 12:34 pm

Hmm i'm not too sure about eating anything coming out of a creek with a sewerage outfall. Bacteria isnt your worry moreso heavy metals and toxins.

Avoiding any filter feeders like oysters is a must. Others not so sure. Most of the creeks would be fairly well flushed with the large tidal range so prob not anything to worry about.

BEAR · Post by **BEAR** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:05 pm

I wouldn't eat bugger all from a sewer

throw it back I reckon!

BEAR

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:54 pm

I'd like to know about the mysterious Bleesers Creek outlet too, it's news to me.

The problem with sewers is that they can produce heavy metal and other contamination, not just bacteria. All sorts of things get dumped down the sewer.

I was told that hydro studies of the harbour show that the big tides do not flush the muck out either - it just goes back and forwards. A nice swirly poo soup.