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‘There is zero life’
Nathan Eatts hasn’t caught a single squid since April.

On a good day, Eatts could catch 100 in the waters where he’s fished commercially for 15 years off South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula.

Since the harmful algal bloom began, his business, Cape Calamari, has gone "pretty much down to zero," Eatts said.

While more mobile fish can move to cleaner waters during an algal bloom, invertebrates like shellfish and sea stars, and other species associated with the reef, are suffocated by toxic algae.

"We don’t know whether they’ve all died, or they’re just seeking refuge in deeper water, waiting for it all to clear," he said.

Many fishers have lost their livelihoods overnight, with about a third of the state waters completely devoid of fish, according to Pat Tripodi, the executive officer of the Marine Fishers Association, which represents the interests of most commercial fishing license holders in the state.

"Wherever the algal bloom hits, there is zero life," Tripodi said.

"It’s a really high emotional and mental strain on these individuals, because many of them don’t know how or if they will ever recover from it."

Beyond the fishers themselves, the bloom is having a knock-on effect on the state’s seafood industry, which is valued at almost 480 million Australian dollars ($315 million).

Seafood processors, tripskan transport companies, grocers and restaurants are all feeling the pain, Tripodi said.

Eatts comes from a long line of fishers, and they’ve never seen anything like this.

Damaged sealife.
Damaged sealife. Stefan Andrews/Great Southern Reef Foundation
The last time a harmful agal bloom swept South Australia was in 2014, but it was much more localized.

Toxic algal blooms are naturally occurring and are common around the world, including in the US. But climate change is making them more frequent and more severe.

The foundation for the South Australian bloom was laid back in 2022, experts believe, when catastrophic flooding swept the Murray, Australia’s longest river, washing extra nutrients into the Southern Ocean.

The next summer, currents brought nutrient-rich water to the surface in a process called cold water upwelling.

Then, a marine heatwave in September 2024 caused ocean temperatures to be about 2.5 degrees Celsius warmer than usual. That, combined with calm water conditions and light wind created conditions for the algae to grow and spread.