The critical condition of a local species was a hot topic earlier this month when an awareness group passed through the Riverland as part of a five-year expedition. Endangered Species Supporters Australia (ESSA) members Kevin and Debrena Hughes and Lindsay and Julia Crouch are travelling across Australia to spread awareness about the nation’s endangered species, and visited Renmark earlier this month to discuss the possible extinction of the Murray cod, and the resulting effects on the ecosystem. “The Murray cod is close to being critically endangered, and
the locks in the river don’t help,” Mr Hughes said. “The clearing of land and old trees, which are their shelters and breeding grounds, need
to be looked at by the Federal Government, but we all need water and we need to pump water to the farms in this area. “When they’re drawing water out of the Murray, particularly in the season when the Murray cod are breeding, a lot of them get sucked up and drawn into the farms.
“There needs to be a balance met somewhere to ensure the cod’s survival, and the Government needs to help with that.” Mr Hughes said local people needed to “make the Government aware that their own backyard needs to be protected”. “It’s about making people aware of how they can reduce the numbers of endangered species s all,” he said. The group will travel across the state in the coming months, before venturing north for “the real start to the trip – the outback”. Mr Hughes is eager to speak with local communities and councils about the endangered species in their locations. Mr Hughes said it was likely that the group would pass through the Riverland again in the near future.