Droughts]]>
Riparian areas]]>
The Lower Darling River and Great Darling Anabranch are located in southͲwest New South Wales. Muddy waters meander over the grey soil floodplains past red dunes, spiky saltbush and gnarled red gums. These are the traditional lands of the Paakintji people. But the land and the river are no longer what the Paakintji once knew and fished.
11 000 years ago, the Darling River changed its course just south of Menindee Lakes, leaving the Great Anabranch’s 460km channel to dry and flow into the Murray only during big floods. Since its discovery by Europeans, the Great Anabranch has been the focus of dreams to use the ancient river channel to deliver water for irrigation. The Darling itself was once a busy transportation route, with paddlesteamers carrying wool and other goods between Bourke and the rest of the colony.
(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Darling and the Great Anabranch: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]>
see details...]]>
http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page058]]>
View or download from publisher...]]>
Paakantyi / Paakantji / Barkindji people]]>
Fishes--Identification]]>
Crustaceans]]>
Indigenous foods]]>
Cotton]]>
Weirs]]>
Land custodianship]]>
Aboriginal history]]>
Cultural flows]]>
Connection to Country]]>
River flow]]>
Cotton]]>
Droughts]]>
Water allocations]]>
Traditional ecological knowledge]]>
Nations Committee (NBAN).
Born in 1956, Jenny talks about families and growing up on the river at a camp on the Darling at Menindee; living, working and playing together. She discusses the drought years from 1985 and the blue-green algae bloom that ran from Mungindi to Menindee. Jenny also speaks about what cultural flows are, and how they are important as they are the inherent water entitlements of Indigenous Nations.
Mention of perch as a significant part of diet however species is undefined; Witchetty grubs, turtles, eagles, porcupine, kangaroo.]]>
Electronic records have been made private as per the request of Jenny Whyman. 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.]]>
Fishes--Identification]]>
Plants--Identification]]>
Droughts]]>
Weirs]]>
Paakantyi / Paakantji / Barkindji people]]>
Water allocations]]>
Overfishing]]>
Colonisation]]>
Racism]]>
Traditional fishing]]>
Cotton]]>
Connection to Country]]>
Water quality]]>
Introduced fishes]]>
Environmental flows]]>
Traditional ecological knowledge]]>
Aboriginal fish traps]]>
Born in 1934, William talks about growing up in Wilcannia and Broken Hill in north-western New South Wales. He recalls being taught to fish by his Grandmother and Aunties using hand lines and fish traps. William talks about the effects of colonisation and racism on his life, and how important the river then becomes.
William discusses his work campaigning for change with Northern Basins Aboriginal Nations (NBAN); he compares the 1944 and 2007 droughts and the differences in atmospheric moisture; the impact of the introduction of carp on catfish; the impact of fishing on cod populations; and the changes in water flow and clarity, exacerbated by tree roots, weeds, and chemicals from irrigators.
Mention of: plants River Red Gum, Cumbungi weed; fish perch (species undefined).
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CC BY-NC]]>
Fishes--Identification]]>
Crustaceans]]>
Birds--Identification]]>
Reptiles--Identification]]>
Plants--Identification]]>
Dams]]>
Blackwater]]>
Water--Law and legislation]]>
Droughts]]>
Weeds]]>
Fish stocking]]>
Billabongs]]>
Introduced species]]>
Water quality]]>
Born in 1955 at Mildura, Rodney grew up on the Darling. He has witnessed the changes in the native fish population, particularly relating to the arrival of the European carp; the decimation of Catfish; restocking; fish kills at Wakool; the removal of Willow trees; the disappearance of bird life following the wave of the calcivirus; blackwater and its impacts on the region; yabbying; fishing techniques; the way fish behave during droughts; the Darling floods of 1956 and 1976, and the various flora and fauna present in the region.
He also shows the research crew Fort Courage and talks about fishing at the junction of the two systems, including a description of a "mini delta" in the Anabranch when it runs.
Mention of 183 Dam and a fish species 'Minnow' (unspecified).]]>
CC-BY]]>
Fishes--Identification]]>
Crustaceans]]>
Reptiles--Identification]]>
Plants--Identification]]>
Weeds]]>
Fossils]]>
Floods]]>
Floodplains]]>
Droughts]]>
Fieldwork]]>
Billabongs]]>
Born in 1974, Clayton grew up in Mildura, angling and yabbying in the irrigation channels, rivers, backwaters and the Great Anabranch. A passionate recreational fisher and scientist, Clayton recalls memories of the Riverina before the changes to irrigation in the 1990s; the ancient rivers and creeks around Mungo National Park; Darling River floods and floodplains; floods (1990s); droughts (1980s, 2000s).
Mention of Witchetty (Bardi) grubs, moths, and a variety of Gudgeon fish species.]]>
Fishes--Identification]]>
Crustaceans]]>
Weirs]]>
Dams--Australia]]>
Fishing industry]]>
Fishing nets]]>
Water quality]]>
Fishing regulations]]>
Fishes--Migration]]>
Floods]]>
Droughts]]>
Cotton]]>
Introduced species]]>
Billabongs]]>
Bill, a professional fisher since 1953, resides in the small town of Wentworth in northern Victoria. Born in 1926, his life experiences of the neighbouring areas of the Murray, Darling and the Great Darling Anabranch reveal numerous changes to the region in terms of fish, crustaceans, the fluctuating commercial demand of fish, and the health of the river systems. Bill also discusses his preferred fishing techniques, areas he likes to fish, government regulations, and the impacts on his region that are a result of irrigation and farming further up the basin.
He also talks about: yabbying in the Paroo River; finding large mussel populations in billabongs; drought and flood cycles of the 1960s, 1970s; differences in water quality and its decline since the 1950s; reduction in water quality in the Culgoa River since the St George Weir was built; the impact of European Carp on Catfish, little water snails and mussel beds.]]>
CC-BY]]>
Paakantyi / Paakantji / Barkindji people]]>
Floods]]>
Boats]]>
Riparian areas]]>
Trish Johnson, a Paakintji woman, was an executive on the Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations (NBAN) commitee, however, she resigned in order to care for her family. Trish moved back to Pooncarie to re-establish ties to her Paakantji Country.
The State Library of New South Wales holds the original photographs in the Talking Fish Collection. Many are annotated on the back with names and places.
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Water resources]]>
Livestock]]>
They discuss the Darling Anabranch Pipeline scheme and other water issues.
No audio was recorded. Photographs were provided by Bill and Elaine Grace. Other paper records are held in the State Library of NSW collection ML OH 647/1-130.]]>
Weirs]]>
Floods]]>
Local history]]>
Droughts]]>
Water quality]]>
Irrigation]]>
Eucalyptus camaldulensis]]>
Soldier settlement]]>
Born in 1941, Carmel talks about her life growing up in Merbein, near Mildura, on the Victorian side of the Murray River. She recalls fishing with family and swimming as a teenager in the Murray, "...we used to be able to see our feet in the water...". In her youth she did research on the floods; and as an adult she communicates her extensive knowledge of the river through her employment.
In the interview Carmel discusses: local history of the Murray-Darling; water allocation and building of weirs; a cofferdam; soldier settlements in Wentworth; the 1956 flood and assistance by soldiers during this time; seasons; water volumes; rainfall patterns; dependence of the Murray River on Darling River flows.
She mentions weirs at Wentworth, Burtundy, Mildura and the unique Perry Sandhills, 400 acres of shifting dunes, marked by a Murray River Red Gum Tree (Eucalyptus camaldulensis). Called the God Tree, it is over 500 years old, and covered so much by the sand that you can stroll through its canopy.]]>
CC-BY]]>