2015-11-10 - P&O Agenda - Item 7, Attach 1 - Historical Ecology of the Noosa Estuary Fisheries

from the description given). It dragged the boat about for some time, but was at
last landed with difficulty. It measured, we are told, 8 feet 4 inches in length, 6 feet
2 inches in girth [...]. Its rotundity is partly accounted for, however, by the contents
of its stomach, viz, 2 young sharks, one over three feet long, likewise 8 or 9 crabs
whole. The weight was estimated at 5 cwt [...]. As these monsters seem to prefer a
shark diet we feel inclined to enter a protest against their destruction...” Gympie
Times, 13 April 1872.




Figure 12. Groper caught in the Noosa River, 1935. Source: Courtesy of Picture
Noosa/Noosa Library Service, Image No. M856806.


While the recorded size of the groper (approx. 250 kg) caught in 1872 appears
almost fantastical, the occurrence and capture of large gropers occur throughout
the recorded history of the Noosa River. This includes the capture of a 90 kg
groper by Howard Parkyn in 1935 (Fig. 12), and a 206 kg groper the year before,
which was reported to be over 7 feet long (Nambour Chronicle, 30 Nov 1934).
Stingarees and shovelnose sharks were sometimes reported as ‘troublesome’,
usually as a result of their breaking anglers lines, although they also provided
sport for tourists who enjoyed chasing them in the shallow waters of Lake
Weyba. Occasionally jewfish up to 20 kg were caught in the lakes and the river



                                                                                       43