Earlier in the year on the back of rain following on from bush-fires, ash washing into the river affected oxygen levels and saw hundreds of thousands of fish killed.

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Fish kill in the Macleay River

Recent rainfall throughout the Macleay has seen acid sulfate from the Doughboy swamp near Clybucca wash into the river and impact oxygen levels with another fish kill occurring.

When Fishermans Reach oyster farmer Todd Graham walked down to his shed at the Golden Hole he saw numerous little dead fish with a change in tide revealing more washing up.

"The water that comes out of the Doughboy swamp out the back of Clybucca has acid sulfate in it and basically the pH drops down so it's acid like water and has no oxygen which creates a black water event and from that we've had a fish kill and potentially how long it hangs around for can result in an oyster kill," local oyster farmer Todd Graham told the Argus.

"Earlier in the year with the rain after the fires, the river was closed for roughly three months with that leading into COVID and because the oysters were in such poor condition we got a QX disease that came in."

Mr Graham noted the potential oyster kill will be devastating for local farmers.

"On the river there was about 80% of all oysters wiped out earlier in the year so now with another event happening everyone is nervous," he said.

"If we lose oysters again I'm pretty sure there's going to be a few farmers walk away, they don't have the money to restart again twice in a year and basically a few won't have the energy either."

Mr Graham commented the fish kill would be in the thousands.

The health of the river is reported to be seeing crab pots surfacing with dead crabs and fish with an affect on tourism as well.

In a statement to the Argus, the NSW Department of Primary Industries confirmed Bream, Mullet, Flathead, Herring, and Mud crabs had been affected.

The DPI confirmed the kills have occurred due to critically low oxygen levels as a result of recent rainfall.

"There is potential for further short-term impacts on fish and other aquatic organisms as coastal floodplains continue to drain into waterways, bringing vegetation and other organic matter which again affects water quality," they stated.

They are said to be working with Kempsey Shire Council and monitoring the situation and encourage the community to report fish deaths or observations through the fishers watch phone-line.

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