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

(e.g., The Brisbane Courier, 10 Sept 1927). On at least two occasions, sawfish
were caught in fishers’ nets:


“The Noosa River at Tewantin last week gave up an unusual specimen - a sawfish
four feet seven inches long with a 17in saw. The fish which weighed 262 lbs, was
caught in a net by Tewantin professional fishemen […] 250 yards from the museum
above Tewantin.” Maryborough Chronicle, 15 Sept 1954.



Physical changes to the Noosa River

The shifting sands and changing nature of the river mouth were recorded in the
earliest surveys of the Noosa River. The development of the lower river and its
surrounds have been detailed elsewhere (e.g., Cato 1979; Gloster 1997) and will
not be repeated here, but 19th century surveys show that the entrance to the
river was located where Noosa Woods stands today, with large dune systems
existing along the Noosa spit (Chamberlain and Tomlinson 2006). The
developments of the lower reaches and Hay’s Island during the 1960s are still
remembered by long-term residents. In contrast, many of the middens that
existed along the riverbank were destroyed by the turn of the 20th century.


A common theme among long-term residents interviewed for this project was
the concern expressed at the development of the river mouth (Fig. 13), in
particular, Hay’s Island and nearby areas. Fishers’ (commercial and recreational)
expressed the view that these areas had previously been important nursery
habitat, providing food and shelter for many of the species targeted within the
river system. This view was also expressed by Monks (2000):


“In the early 1970’s the decline in fishing in the whole area became apparent over
many years with the man made alterations to the river mouth because of erosion
and shifting sands […]. With less water from the tides entering so the water levels
dropped in all the lake systems […]. Not only that the marine life and the fish knew
about it too and did not enter the River from the sea as usual – many of the area’s
net fishermen became irate as their catches dropped by at least two thirds of their


                                                                                   44