Pittwater Online News

In late Spring 2017 Pittwater Online News will commence a run of history pages sharing some insights into Pittwater fishermen and fisher families - which began with our local indigenous families, and early settlers like the Chinese men that occupied and processed fish where the Palm Beach ferry wharf is, but then included those who came to live and survive here earlier than that, from 1788 on.

Recently receiving a pre release copy The Catch: The Story of Fishing in Australia by Dr. Anna Clark, made available by the National Library of Australia on October 1st, 2017, gives a standard to aspire to.

Putting aside this author's penchant for going the distance, this new book charts the history of fishing, from the first known accounts of Indigenous fishing and early European encounters with Australia’s waters, to the latest fishing fads; from the introduction of trout and fly fishing to the challenges of balancing needs of commercial and recreational fishers.

As many here enjoy fishing as an occupation or a recreation, with our tall fish tales to tell, and with so much of our environment's seasons entwined with fish runnings, with fish spots, with sharks in the Pittwater estuary or around the lighthouse, or catches of legendary prawn runnings in the Narrabeen Lagoon, catching eels in Warriewood's creeks - this is book many of us may resort to to whet our appetite to get out and enjoy what lies on our doors.

"When they shut their eyes and pause for a minute, fishers have a place they go to in their mind. A special place, a fishing place. Mine is called Paradise, but you won't find it on any map." - Prologue, The Catch: The Story of Fishing in Australia

This book is written by someone who has a passion for fishing and a passion for sharing accessible knowledge all framed in a beautifully presented volume - does the NLA ever do anything but allow its great records to create works of art that celebrate sharing knowledge?

After chiming of 'the enduring pleasure of throwing in a line', and harnessing the tide that must have saved early settlers from starvation, all that netting, and all that 'excursionist' traffic that came here too, many of the visitors simply to fish, was certainly going to lead to the need for regulation, Anna's work delves into the Old Fish introduced into a New World.

The Anglers, fishing evolutions and of course, the charting of a more certain realisation by the 1960's that things need to shift if people wish to go recreational fishing. Anyone who has spoken to those who fished here only a few decades ago know the snapper aren't almost ten pounds in weight anymore and the open fishing rowing boats aren't coming back filled to the bream with mackeral.

The Catch: The Story of Fishing in Australia includes perhaps forgotten catches such as (P.133):

The work covers the whole of Australia, sharing societal shifts, luminous paintings, items from magazines and periodicals past and photographs. It charts our love of fishing and the great outdoors as no work has done so far. 

Pages 82-83: Fishing, a sketch in Mossman's Bay, Port Jackson [picture] / S.M- Creator Gibbs, Shallard & Co. 

Published Sydney : Illustrated Sydney News, October 1871 nla.obj-133181941-1 - at: FISHING—A SKETCH IN MOSSMAN'S BAY, PORT JACKSON. (1871, October 28). Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1853 - 1872), p. 1 (Supplement). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63618362

Cost: $39.99
AVAILABLE 01 OCTOBER - PRE-ORDER NOW **
In every coastal town in Australia, there's a bait shop and a boat ramp, and, in garages around the country, fishing rods are strung up waiting for their next outing. Many of us have a special fishing spot, and families pass on tips from generation to generation and exchange fishy tales of amazing catches and near misses.

Bringing her personal passion for throwing in a line, author Anna Clark celebrates the enduring pleasure of fishing in "The Catch: The Story of Fishing in Australia". This book charts the history of fishing, from the first known accounts of Indigenous fishing and early European encounters with Australia's waters to the latest fishing fads; from the introduction of trout and fly fishing to the challenges of balancing needs of commercial and recreational fishers.

Fishing personality Rob Paxevanos, host of "Fishing Australia", says that "The Catch" is 'by far my best fishing read to date'.
Available at https://bookshop.nla.gov.au/book/the-catch-the-story-of-fishing-in-australia.do


WRITERS LIVE - ANNA CLARK INTRODUCES THE CATCH
12TH OCT @ BERKELOUW MONA VALE 
 
You are invited to meet Anna Clark when introduces her new book The Catch - The Story of Fishing in Australia.
In every Australian coastal town, there's a bait shop and a boat ramp and, in garages around the country, fishing rods await their next outing. Many of us have a special fishing spot and from generation to generation, families pass on tips and exchange fishy tales of amazing catches and near misses. Now the rich history of Austalian fishing has been told.