Salinity]]> Floods]]> Dams]]> Irrigation]]> Barrages]]> Dairy industry]]> Farms]]> Fishing--Australia]]> Fishing licenses]]> Traditional ecological knowledge]]> Aboriginal spirituality]]> Silt]]> Riparian areas]]> Restoration ecology]]> Sustainable fisheries]]> Aquifers--Australia]]> Land custodianship]]> Fishing industry]]> Cultural flows]]>
Matthew Rigney is an Elder of the Ngarrindjeri Nation in South Australia. He discusses the culture and spirituality of his people, the changes in the waterways within the Coorong region with special regard to floods and barrages, the issues with government in gaining water for cultural flows for Indigenous peoples, traditional Ngarrindjeri land and water management, and fishing in the region.

Topics covered include: Aboriginal land and water management practices; competing views of Aboriginal and Eurocentric viewpoints regarding the environment and economy; Indigenous connection to land; cultural flows; Cultural Water Access Licences, Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN); Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority.]]>
Electronic records have been made private as per the request of Matthew Rigney's family. As part of our data access requirements, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Data Archive (located at the University of Technology, Sydney) requires an applicant to sign an undertaking before access to material can be approved. These undertakings may include a request for information about the intended use of the data. The depositor and/or family may be informed of the application.

Preliminary applications may be made to:
atsida@lib.uts.edu.au.
]]> Tournament fishing]]> Bait fishing]]> Lure fishing]]> Fishing nets]]> Floods]]> Water resources]]> Water--Law and legislation]]> Traditional ecological knowledge]]> Blackwater]]> Salinity]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Riparian areas]]> Fishes--Breeding]]> Environmental flows]]> Water quality]]>
Brian talks about: native fish activity in the Sturt Reserve, in particular Murray Cod and their habitat; the importance of river flow on fish breeding cycles; the changes in baiting methods from live bait to lures; banned fish net practice; petitioning against commercial fishing in South Australia; the changes he has observed in water levels in the Murray River, including vegetation; 1956 flood; blackwater; water salinity; traditional knowledge (pinpointing the birthplace of a Murray Cod from its stomach lining); and the different species of Callop in South Australia.

Mention of a silver fish 'tookeri' and a 'scarfish'.]]> CC-BY]]> Tournament fishing]]> Traditional ecological knowledge]]>
Images provided by Brian Schulz during his oral history interview.
]]> Local history]]> Aboriginal culture]]> Aboriginal peoples]]> Estuarine ecology]]> Salinity]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Traditional ecological knowledge]]> Plants--Identification]]> Birds--Identification]]> Agricultural land]]> Floods]]> Acid sulfate soils]]> Weeds]]> Introduced fishes]]> Naturalists]]> Fish surveys]]> Boats]]> Threatened species]]>
Terry and John collectively discuss: pre-barrage days, when a blue line was visible, separating fresh from salt water in Lake Alexandrina (which is now freshwater); changes in fishing methods and equipment; a time when the Mulloway fish species were captured for their gelatine; history of flows and currents in the Coorong from the southern end, as a result of drainage schemes; salinity from agricultural soils and runoff; hypersalinity of the Coorong; traditional knowledge and legends of the Ngarrindjeri peoples; comparisons in flooding and rainfall between 1956 flood and the present day; the dairy and agricultural industry and trade routes in the 1950s; history of prominent naturalists studying the area; the Strathalbyn Nationalist book, an extensive repository of vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants in the area; South Australian Naturalist surveys; observation of fauna in the 1950s-60s and consequent changes; popular family and community activities (e.g. fishing, yabbying, hunting); history of boat types and fishermen huts (‘shacks’); dredging and acid sulphate soil issues; methods of catching and transporting fish (and duck); the impact of salinity on the small snails in the food chain of duck species; vegetation (weeds) popular to ducks; and the effect of European carp in the 1970s on the swan population; 1956 flood, and a family story about a 1870 flood; plant species.

They discuss a fish species 'disostra' in the Coorong and worldwide that died off in the early 20th century. They talk about water birds, and a species called a Banded Stilt which feeds on brine shrimp - a sign of hypersalinity.

Also mentioned: the South Australian Farmers Union, which became Southern Farmers, then National Foods.]]> CC-BY]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Floods]]> Salinity]]> Fishes--Migration]]> Aboriginal culture]]> Droughts]]> Marine ecology]]> Fishing nets]]>
Dean, born 1929, is from Victor Harbour, and lived through the 1956 flood. Married since 1960, Dean and Sally live at Mundoo Island near the mouth of the Murray River. Dean recalls memories fishing with his father, and spear fishing with mates at Victor Harbour in the ocean. They talk extensively about the changes in fish species and vegetation they have seen at Mundoo Island and other parts of the Coorong and Lakes systems.

Dean and Sally talk about: changes in vegetation at Mundoo Island due to salt (brackish) water; fishing methods and equipment used in the ocean and lakes (including a pitchfork to catch Flounder); seeing dead Murray cod from upstream in the 1956 flood; natural movement of Congolli species from fresh to saltwater; activities of cockling, floundering, and yabbying; local Aboriginal culture; the effects of wind power on the water system; marine species (e.g. shark, seal, stingray, turtle) in the Coorong; and the severity of recent droughts compared with earlier ones.

Other fish species mentioned: tcherie/turie/toukrie, salmon trout, sunfish, pyebrie, garfish, whiting. ]]> CC BY-NC-ND]]> [was Mundoo Channel pre-barrage]]]> ]]> ]]> Local history]]> Fishing nets]]>
Images were sourced by the Talking Fish project team from Sally Grundy and Dean Tugwell on the day of their oral history recording.]]> Floods]]> Weirs]]> Fishing--Australia]]> Boats]]> Lagoons--Australia]]> Rainfall frequencies]]> Lure fishing]]>
Ron Bain was born in 1918 on a farm in Seymour. After share-farming for six years, he bought his own farm in Timboon. He returned to Seymour and purchased a shop with his family and after 12 months had packed up to travel around Australia in a caravan with his wife which continued for seven years. After this trip, Ron returned to Seymour and has resided in the area ever since.

During his life in Seymour, Ron has witnessed a lot of changes to the Goulburn River. He notes the reduced flow of the river as well as the eradication of floods, which in turn have negatively impacted the cod population and dried out the lagoons. He blames this largely on the installation of the Eildon Weir, and also on low precipitation.

Mentioned:

Sandworms, bardi grubs, trout, turtles, platypus, snakes, tiger snakes, red river gum trees, black wattle, rabbits.]]> CC-BY]]> Lure fishing]]> Riparian areas]]> CC-BY]]> Riparian areas]]> CC BY-NC]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Weirs]]> Fish stocking]]> Fish kills]]> Droughts]]> Fishing--Australia]]>
Wally Cubbin and Ern Holloway are both fishers who reside in Nagambie, Victoria. Wally has been living in the area for more than 35 years, while Ern has lived in the area his entire life.

In the interview, Wally and Ern share their personal experiences of fishing from their younger years, to their adult lives where their fishing slowed down, to the present where more free time allows them to be more involved.

Wally, who is the Secretary of the Goulburn Valley Association of Angling Clubs and a member of the local Angling Club, addresses a number of topics including an audit on Goulburn Valley Water, poor management of the river, restocking initiatives (fingerlings), weirs and the changes in the fish population.

Mention of:
Worms, ribbon weed, cabomba.]]> CC-BY]]>