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Living off our waters gallery

‘View of Port Jackson in New Suoth [sic] Wales’ – View of the Sydney region featuring Aboriginal people fishing in an Arcadian setting within a heavy neoclassical border, Port Jackson, NSW, 1800. Engraved by T Milton. AIATSIS Collection Rpf CLE.

This is an example of the reworking of images for the mass eighteenth century market.

Spearing fish from a canoe, c. late 1800s. AIATSIS Collection MASSOLA.A01.BW-N02447_21.

Fishing from a canoe, c. late 1800s. AIATSIS Collection MASSOLA.A01.BW-N02416_20.

Spearing fish in a river, New South Wales, c. 1890. Photographer: Charles Kerry. AIATSIS Collection KERRY_KING.001.BW-N03121_12.

‘Spearing Ratjuk’ – Fabian Gaykamangu poised to throw a spear hoping to catch an elusive barramundi (Ratjuk), between Rapooma Island and First Island (Mardanaaingura), Crocodile Islands, NT, 8 February 2013. Photograph by John Skuja.

Fishing with a pronged fishing spear, c. 1930. Photograph by Francis Birtles. AIATSIS Collection BIRTLES.F03.DF- F00000129.

Dennis Hocking Jnr showing off the salmon he just caught with his spear, Point Vivonne, SA, 20 May 2017. Photograph by Michelle Naylon.

Peter Savage with a giant groper fish he speared on the front reef, St Paul's, Moa Island, Torres Strait, Qld, 1920s-1930s. Photograph by Junius Wilfred Schomberg. AIATSIS Collection SCHOMBERG.N01.BW-N07207_01.

Charles and Joe Ligadua dive for razorfish as the sun sets, Alexander’s Beach, Ceduna, SA, 12 December 2016. Photograph by Jacinta Haseldine.

Fishing from in a dugout canoe, c. 1920. Photograph by Francis Birtles. AIATSIS Collection BIRTLES.F20.BW- F00004724.

A group of Aboriginal men from Wagga holding their catch after a day out fishing on a visit to the South Coast as part of a cultural exchange between the Aboriginal peoples of the South Coast and Wagga, Narooma, NSW, 13 April 2016. Photograph by Wally Stewart.

‘Fishing No. 2’ – Illustration of two women fishing on a boat, Sydney region, NSW, c. 1813. Original citation from the book Field Sports of the Native Inhabitants of New South Wales states that ‘catching fish with the hook and the line is, generally, the employ of the females...’

Collecting shell fish, possibly anbambula, from a beach at low tide with a dilly bag, Madang-adjira, Maningrida area, NT, 1972. Photograph by Betty Meehan. AIATSIS Collection MEEHAN.B04.BW-N08565_16.

Doreen Collins, granddaughter of Laurie Baymarrwaŋa, working for the Crocodile Islands Rangers, a group founded by her grandmother, Crocodile Islands, NT, c. 2017. Courtesy of Bentley James.

A family off fishing, the adults carrying a spear and a child each, Momega outstation and Nakorro camp, 2 kilometres south of Maningrida district, north-central Arnhem Land, NT, May 1980. Photograph by Jon C Altman. AIATSIS Collection ALTMAN.J01.BW-N03206_35.

Catching a feed for the family, c. 1920. Photograph by Francis Birtles. AIATSIS Collection BIRTLES.F20.BW- F00004581.

Charles showing his son Gregory Charles his catch as Nana Sue Haseldine holds him, Point Vivonne, SA, 13 May 2017. Photograph by Jacinta Haseldine.

Catching fish on the causeway over the Forrest River during a rise in the river, Ord River Station, East Kimberley, WA, 1960-1965. AIATSIS Collection WATTS.C01.CS-000111752.

Young people catching salmon at Point Vivonne, SA, 20 May 2017. Photograph by Charles.

A portrait shot of a young man seated with animal skin, boomerangs, shield and fishing net, Grafton region, NSW, 1874. Photograph by John William Lindt. AIATSIS Collection LINDT.J01.DF-D00027367.

Uncle Ashley Binell teaching his nephew Dennis Hocking Jnr how to catch bait fish, Point Vivonne, SA, 20 May 2017. Photograph by Michelle Naylon.

Using the hand held Walabi (fish net), Gudjitmi Billabong, Maningrida Region, north-central Arnhem Land, NT, July 1980. Photograph by Jon C Altman. AIATSIS Collection ALTMAN.J01.BW-N03216_11.

Preparing a fish net made from bark twine with two metre high poles at low tide, Gulf of Carpentaria, north Queensland, c. 1910. Photograph by Francis Birtles. AIATSIS Collection BIRTLES.F03.DF- F00000410.

Fishing with a net in the Blyth River, Kopanga Outstation, Blyth River, Arnhem Land, NT, October 1982. Photograph by Gerry Orkin. AIATSIS Collection AIAS.015.CS-000080956.

Children and adults pulling in nets on the beach at Wreck Bay, NSW, 1979-1980. AIATSIS Collection NUGENT.A01.BW-N04124_04.

The Jessop family net fishing with John Brierley, South Coast, NSW, 30 Oct 2014. Photograph by Robert Chewying.

Beach haul by the Jessop family, Mullimburra Point, NSW, 2 May 2013. Photograph by Wally Stewart.

Preparing a large catch of fish, c. 1920. Photograph by Francis Birtles. AIATSIS Collection BIRTLES.F20.BW-F00004727.

Pushing a barrier of grass to trap fish, Cadell River, NT, 1947-1951. Photograph by W. Lloyd Warner and Sydney Hamilton Kyle-Little. AIATSIS Collection KYLE_LITTLE.S01.BW-N01939_02.

Ranger Billy Boyman and Buthan standing at the Betŋu fish trap in the estuary at Gaḏatha, Murruŋga Island, Crocodile Islands, NT, 9 June 2010. Courtesy of Bentley James

Natural fish trap at the end of Davenport Creek, which is still used today, when the tide goes out, Davenport Creek, Ceduna, SA, 28 May 2017. Photograph by Charles.

Cooking up fish caught in the beach haul for everyone at the Aboriginal fishing rights protest to share, Barlings Beach, NSW, 26 January 2015. Photograph by Wally Stewart.

Fish soup (milulu) cooking in a billy, Barnett Gorge, Mount Barnett Station, Kimberley, WA, 3 May 1977. Photograph by Kim Akerman. Courtesy of Kim Akerman. AIATSIS Collection AKERMAN.K11.DF-D00012064.

Gayili [Yunupingu Marika] preparing a fire to open oysters on a rock, Oyster Beach, Arnhem Land, NT, 20 February 2009. Photograph by Valerie Boll. AIATSIS Collection BOLL.V01.DF-D00024864.

Ashley Binell cooking a fresh find of oysters on the fire, Point Vivonne, SA, 20 May 2017. Photograph by Joe Ligadua.

Digging out turtle eggs, c, 1920. Photograph by Francis Birtles. AIATSIS Collection BIRTLES.F20.BW-F00004730.

Shane and Newton Carriage with Keith Nye in the background cleaning mutton fish (abalone), Batemans Bay, NSW, March 1989. Photograph by Ricky Maynard. AIATSIS Collection SOUTHCOASTNSW.001.BW-B01033_12.

Last updated: 19 August 2021