Fishos stuck in the mud as siltation strikes in Jerseyville

“It's never been like this before”: Lifetime anglers say livelihoods at risk if the Macleay River is not dredged.

Author

Douglas Connor
June 18, 2026

After 40 years in the game, Jerseyville commercial fisherman Grant Casey has never seen his local channel of the Macleay River so silted up.

Trawler boats attempting to head out to sea or return home to their moorings via the river can no longer do so at low tide, due to expansive mud flats.  

  • “The river has become so shallow that we cannot navigate it; you cannot go to work,” Casey told the Mid North Coaster. “There’s times when you can't get off the wharf. We’ve just got to tie it back up and go home.

    “We're now basically getting stuck in the mud … wearing stern bearings out, doing damage to the props quite regularly.”

Economic impacts: Casey said the situation has worsened over the past five years and is now untenable.

Jobs are under immediate threat, with an average of about three workers relying on the viability of each vessel. 

  • “It affects everyone's livelihoods, because we all have employees,” Casey said. “About 18 jobs are at risk.”

Market demands: Impacts are being felt at the Macleay River District Fisherman's Co-Operative, also in Jerseyville, which sells the fresh local produce.

  • “[We] catch your Eastern king prawns, a few flathead, octopus and the cuttlefish that supplies the whole local community, besides product going to Sydney,” Casey said. “There won't be any local seafood or prawns here if all the boats go.”

How did we get here: Grant’s brother, Mark Casey, also a commercial fisherman, said the problem began in the aftermath of the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, when large volumes of sediment entered the river system. 

  • “The [following] flood, which I think was about 2021, washed all the silt off the hills and from the fires into the river, which amassed… and has filled the channel up with mud.” 

Dredge demand: The Casey brothers are urging the state government to dredge the channel, a call that has been endorsed by Kempsey Shire Council.

At a meeting on June 16, councillors resolved to write to relevant NSW ministers requesting that Jerseyville be considered a regional priority for navigational dredging works. 

Council has also requested that Transport for NSW and NSW Maritime engage with affected commercial fishers and the Fisherman’s Co-Operative.