Fishes--Identification]]> Birds--Identification]]> Reptiles--Identification]]> Weirs]]> Droughts]]> Floods]]> Wetland conservation]]> Wetlands]]> Farming]]> Revegetation]]> Water allocations]]>
Hayley Purbrick is a fifth generation member of the Purbrick Family who owns the Tahbilk Winery. She grew up on nearby Lake Nagambie and has interacted with the river since she was a child. She is involved in the conservation and revegetation of the wetlands in Tahbilk, Victoria.

In the interview, Hayley discusses the wetlands and the wildlife she encounters, the difficulties she experiences in her interactions with government, the Goulburn Weir and how she feels it is an asset to the wetlands and surrounds, and the future of farming that is experiencing a shift towards environmental awareness ushered in by the new generation of farmers.

Mention of:
Worms, Mexican Lily, swans, koalas, wallabies, turtles, platypus, wrens, brown snakes, red-belly black snakes, ibis, cranes, ducks, lizards.]]>
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Fishes--Identification]]> Weirs]]> Camping]]> Fishing--Australia]]> Lure fishing]]> Trawls and trawling]]> Taxidermy]]> Tournament fishing]]> Floods]]> Droughts]]>
Donnie Richter, who was born in 1948 and lives near the Goulburn River, has been fishing since he was a child. Fishing for him initially began as a social activity with his friends where they would camp, drink and fish along the riverbank. Fishing practices in those times, Donnie admits, were unconcerned about sustainability - this is in complete opposition to the sustainable practices that Donnie employs today.

Nowadays Donnie is equipped with his boat and fishing gear that he uses in the various competitions that he has entered, including the Barra Nationals, the Barra Classsic, the Barra Bonanza, the Barra Bash, and the exclusive Mulwala Classic. Donnie also speaks about lure fishing and lures, his taxidermy works, and the various plants and wildlife along the river.

Mentioned:
River Red Gum trees, turtles, platypuses, willows, bream, bardi grubs.]]>
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Stream flow]]> Water levels]]> Floods]]> Droughts]]> Springs (Groundwater)]]> Stream restoration]]> Riparian restoration]]> Fishing--Australia]]> Erosion]]> Revegetation]]>
Charlee and Faye talk about Hollands Creek; growing up along the creek; memories of swimming and playing in the river; the cycle of flooding and the dry; and Aerial maps. Faye mentions learning to fish with her uncles; and both Charlee and Faye talk about horse riding; picnics; water levels and flow rates; changes in the river structure due to floods; walking on the creek bed; a large flood; the 2004, 2005 drought; their efforts to warn Benalla (Victoria) of the approaching flood; natural springs; sand deposits; erosion; their involvement with Holland's Creek Demonstration Reach; re-snagging work; collaboration with Goulburn Broken Catchment Authority; riffles; field days; re-vegetation; historical popularity of fishing ; and water rats.

Mention of "McGregor's Bridge"; "Crowe's swimming pool" - a local waterhole.

Mention of Koala, Platypus, Water rats, Frogs, Echidna, Wombat, Deer, Snakes, Blackberry ]]>
CC BY]]>

Bourke was once the end of the line for most of the paddlesteamers that made their way up the muddy Darling. They sometimes had to wait for months before the waters became navigable and when the rains didn’t come, the channel dried to a series of pools.

Since the coming of Europeans, the health of the river and its fish have degraded. The paddlesteamer trade, grazing, and irrigation, all changed the rivers. Weirs were constructed, reaches desnagged, water extracted, foreign animals and plants introduced and new ways to catch fish also had an impact. These changes mean there are now a lot less fish than there were. Before the turn of the twentieth century there are stories of catching great numbers of silver perch, Murray cod, catfish and yellowbelly - and no tales of carp.

These are the traditional lands of the Ngiyampaa, Murawari and Yuwalaraay peoples. They have seen great changes to the river and surrounding waterways where they fished and hunted the wetlands.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Darling ‐ Brewarrina to Bourke: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray‐Darling Basin. Murray‐Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]>
Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]> View or download from publisher...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page178]]>
Waka Waka / Wakka Wakka people]]> Mandandanji people]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Native plants]]> Land custodianship]]> Connection to Country]]> Dreaming (Spiritual)]]> Kitchen-middens--Australia]]> Water quality]]> Erosion]]> Farming]]> Deforestation]]> Aboriginal fish traps]]> Places of significance]]> Land degradation]]> Water allocations]]> Water conservation]]> Cotton]]> Water pollution]]> Salinization]]> River rehabilitation]]> Aboriginal history]]> Farming]]> Droughts]]> Introduced fishes]]> Water wells]]> Mandandanji (Australian people)]]> Sacred sites]]> Activism]]>
Robert Lacey is an Indigenous man who has resided in the St George area in southern Queensland most his life. His people are the traditional owners of the land: his mother is a Mandandanji woman, while his father is a Waka Waka man.

Robert discusses the connection he has with the land and the river, he expresses the honour he feels in being trusted to take care of Country. He discusses the history of the river and its declining health; commercial use of the river; and the work he personally does on recording the sites of cultural significance and heritage sites finding over 100 in just a few years. He says that the river is a source of peace, tranquility, food, leisure - the life blood of the land.

Robert also mentions the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative (GABSI) and his elation at the 1967 Australian Referendum and what it meant for Aboriginal people, and also the political activism by his family.]]>
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Fishes--Identification]]> Plants--Identification]]> Siltation]]> Blackwater]]> Water quality]]> Droughts]]> Weeds]]> Weirs]]> Livestock]]>
Henry and Joan Cross live at Goonaroo Station, an 11,000 acre sheep and cattle property. The property is located north of Hebel on the New South Wales and Queensland borders and was purchased by Henry's father. The Bokhara River cuts through their property.

Henry was born at the property 85 years ago. In the river he has caught Catfish (5-6 lbs), Yellowbelly (3-5 lbs), and many Crayfish. One time, he was stung by a Catfish barb. Henry used to use cloth line for fishing, and would bob for fish as there were no lures back then. He could even tell the different fish species from their bites (bite impressions).

The rivers used to run clean. Big worms (up to 2 feet long) were the best bait to use for fishing, and he still sees these worms around.

'Tea Tree Hole' was the most popular place to fish before the weir was built. In the drought of 1958 the hole went dry, and he remembers pulling dying Murray Cod out, but didn't like to eat Cod as they tasted bad.

Henry spent a considerable amount of time on the river with family. Most picnics were on the Culgoa River where the fish were better, the Narran River even better than the Culgoa.

He first noticed the fishing holes fill with silt about 30 years ago. Now trees fall into the holes, which hold up the silt and built-up material. Siltation began before European Carp arrived. The river ran clear before the 1970s and 1980s. Weeds used to grow on the water, but do not any longer.

Siltation now blocks the weirs. Blackwater (black) floods take the oxygen out of the water, killing fish. Dirranbandi saw many dead fish. Thousands of fish died there, including Cod 3 feet long. Trucks were used to load and bury the fish.

Now Culgoa River gets the most water. The weed is dead and it used to have [Red Carp/Spangled Perch/'puppy dogs']. Vegetation on the river used to be River Red Gums, Coolabahs, and the occasional Tea trees and Lomandra.

Today's fishing is very poor. The river has dried out many times - three times after the weir was built in 1958, however, on the property the water is 'very good'.]]>
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]]]> ]]> ]]>
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]]>
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.]]>