Holy mackerel - police on the trail of some fishy business

Eden Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews had a slippery start to the day when they responded to a fishy highway emergency at 5.20am.

An 80 metre stretch of the Princess Highway across two lanes was covered with a 100 kg truckload of mackerel fish and oil. The highway had to be closed for the clean up.

The source of the piscine delivery was no longer on the scene when firefighters arrived at Bellbird Hill just after 5am but fire crews quickly removed the fish from the highway and cleared away the oil residue.

Eden FRNSW commander Zlatco Nemec said the incident took place about 1-1.5km north of Eden going up Bellbird Hill.

"It was reported by a driver travelling north who drove over it," Mr Nemec said.

"We used shovels and brooms and put it on the side of the road and then washed it down with a high pressure hose before putting some material down to soak up the oil and grease," he added.

The EPA and NSW Police have been notified to investigate. Mr Nemec said they had a good idea who was responsible though.

Acting Superintendent Mathew Sigmund from Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) said this is a timely reminder that calling Triple Zero (000) when you are involved in or see a crash can be the difference between life and death.

The Triple Zero (000) service is the quickest way to get the right resources from emergency services to help you. It should be used to contact Police, Fire or Ambulance services in life-threatening or time-critical situations.