Soldier settlement]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Droughts]]> Floods]]> Bushfires]]> Siltation]]> Grazing]]> Environmental flows]]> Introduced fishes]]> Aboriginal culture]]> Depressions--1929--Australia]]>
Dougie talks about: the effects of drought and economic depression on communities; government property ballots,1951; soldier settlements; cycles of drought, floods, and bushfires; silt build up in water holes from grazier activities, changing river and creek flows; relationship between Warrego and Paroo; periods when water ran from Paroo into the Darling (1950, 1956); Aboriginal fishing methods, catching ‘sleepy cod’; siting carp in river branches connected to the Murray; gelignite used to erect power lines throughout Paroo. Drought events discussed: 1930, ending 1947, 1957. Flood events: 1942, 1947, 1950, 1956.

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Floods]]> Fisheries]]> Salinity]]> River engineering]]> Bait fishing]]> Fishing industry]]> Soldier settlement]]>
Born in 1935, Malcom is a professional fisherman. First taught to fish by his grandfather, he bought a professional licence in 1957.

Malcom talks about: soldier settlements around the time of the 1956 flood; government allocation of river sections for commercial fishing; professional fishing equipment and techniques; baiting methods; process of preparing and transporting fish for market, and market prices; diseased fish (‘Redfin were good carriers’); electrofishing techniques; deterioration of trees as a result of unnatural flooding and salinity in floodplains caused by the locks; impact on deteriorated floodplains on native fish (whereas carp thrive); yabbying after flood events; the social impact of insufficient income from commercial fishing; floods 1956, 1970s.
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Fishes--Identification]]> Plants--Identification]]> Birds--Identification]]> Snakes]]> Riparian areas]]> Bait fishing]]> Floods]]> Salinity]]> Irrigation]]> Local history]]> Military service]]> World War II]]> Communities]]> Soldier settlement]]>
Born in Renmark in 1923, Howard lives on the banks of the Murray River at Pyap, near Loxton. He grew up in an underprivileged First World War settlement in Renmark, spending school holidays helping his father on the land picking dried fruit and tending to animals. Howard was a Royal Australian Air Force pilot and bomber in World War II, and commercial pilot for British Airways. When he returned with his brother from WWII he took up an ex-serviceman block near Loxton.

Howard recalls history about: soldier settlements after the First Word War (Renmark, Berri, Barmera, Waikerie); the mix of cultures in the population as a result of the World Wars; training at an army camp at Victor Harbour, and training as a fighter pilot at Deniliquin in 1942; the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur; experiencing WWII first hand on the south coast of England and as a bomber pilot over Germany.

Howard also discusses: fishing at Ral Ral Creek growing up, a tributary of the Murray River; changes in fish species (the main three being Cod, Callop, Bony Bream); the number of trees and shade along the river bank; fishing methods used on the river bank, and types of bait (e.g. birds to catch shrimp, mussels to catch cod); changes observed in minor and major flood cycles; changes in salinity, and the resulting changes in irrigation practice in the Riverland; yabbying techniques and where they were most abundant; bird nesting and water bird species; snakes; vegetation; floods 1931 (Renmark), 1951, 1956, 1959 (Berri).

Also mentioned: Tree of Knowledge (Berri, marked with flood levels).
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