Snapshots of the Tamar Ponrabbel reflects 23.09.09 1:22 am I was concieved on a small boat on the Tamar in late 1953. My parents love of the river was, and is, well known. As a young child I knew the pleasures of the flat shelled rock oyster, straight from the shell to the mouth, or fried in egg and breadcrumbs. No longer, due to an introduced species. Flathead and flounder were a breakfast staple back then. In the 60s the water at Beauty Point was crystal clear. By the 70s you could not see the propellers spinning on the boats as they started to move. The water had become too polluted. Hepatitis was found in the water by college students conducting studies in 1971. The government took no notice. To be a young sabot sailor was becoming dangerous, “If you capsize, hold your mouth shut” was the instruction. At times we would get a flood which flushed the river. The silt in the Cataract would be flushed and soon after the waters would be clean again. But only for a short time. The Hydro reined supreme and stopped the natural flow. A lifestyle that was relaxed and comfortable had been lost. The river as we new it was taken from the people that loved it. The pulp mill will create more damage to the place of my conception. Many mistakes have been made with the Tamar. Let us not make any more. Gunns is the rice grass of the new millennium. The Tasmanian government must have a pecuniary interests register. Those in government should be required to disclose what shares they hold in companies. This is required in other states. Maybe this would not be in the Honorable Members’ best interests. It would be in the best interests of the constituents. Whatever it takes, I want those that come after me to have the opportunity to live a lifestyle that is not regulated by business and greed. A lifestyle I enjoyed as a child and one I wish to enjoy in my retirement. … Deb and I were 7 years old, her younger brother 5. He and I shared the same name. We were about to set off on our “Grand Adventure”, as Deborah phrased it. I was staying with my Godparents, close friends of my parents, on their boat at Beauty Point. We were allowed the use of the dinghy and set off. I rowed and away we went over what we called the flatty banks, because that was where we caught flathead. We were in view all the time, but didn’t know that. We thought we were so invincible then. We made “landfall” and took our lunches up to the rocky shore. There we found an old dinghy, up amoungst the trees. As kids we made up stories about how it came to be there. Murder and mystery, bushrangers and thieves. How 3 young children managed to lug this dinghy over the rocks to the water I don’t know, but we did. We tied it to our dinghy to tow it back. Of course, as it had dried out, it leaked and sank. We persisted. Deb and myself took turns to row and we did get the sunken dinghy back to Beauty Point. Being such upright kids we went straight to the police station to report our finding of great criminal misdeeds. We were treated with the utmost respect, but I think a lot of laughter was being hidden behind our backs. When this has been part of your life, how could you not love the Tamar? And how could you tolerate it beinging ruined? … Why? I don’t know. My father was quite happy to buy me new fishing lines every year. But my grandmother would insist on trying to untangle the birds nest from the previous year. She would sit in the cockpit of her boat for hours undoing the mess. When she was done she would attach the hook, bait it and drop it over the side of the boat. My cousin and myself thought it great fun to swim up to her line and give it a tug, trying to make her think it was a fish. Of course she was smarter than us. But she let us think she thought it was a fish. Now we hear of two headed fish on the Sunshine Coast due to dioxins. How would my grandmother feel reeling in a two headed fish? I am glad she is now not in a situation where she will see her river subjected to the pollutants that could cause that. She always said she thought Bass Strait so rough she couldn’t be sea sick whilst out there. She would wait for calmer waters. I am sure she would be sick now if she knew what is being proposed to be dumped into Bass Strait. … The early morning June mist hung over the water of Dark Hollow. The beauty of the rising sun competed with the aroma of flounders frying in the pan. Freshly speared so few hours ago. “Enjoy them while you can” said my father, ” They won’t be here much longer.” “Why?” I asked. “If that thermal power station is turned on the hot water released into the river will upset their breading areas”, he replied. That was 40 years ago. Even if the pulp mill discharges its waste into Bass Strait, one has to remember the tidal nature of the Tamar. Water from the Strait is drawn in with the 12 foot rise and fall. I would like to catch a fish and know it is one of many, not just one of a few left due to industrialisation. What benefits the few hurts the many. … The bow wave of the boat was not as strong as it usually was. Heading to West Arm from Launceston, we were passing Gravelly Beach. The water was thick with jellyfish, the propeller chopping them up to regenerate into even more. This continued to Point Rapid. A natural occurence that occurs every decade or so. Nature has her reasons for a phenomenon such as this. What right do we have to interfere by changing the environment? … Of course we ate a lot of fish as kids. Drop a line over the side of the boat, trawl with a silver spinner at 4 knots, or a spear and light on a low tide at night. Breakfast, lunch and dinner at your marine doorstep. We saw a lot of squid but back then had never heard of calamari. What a wasted opportunity. Haven’t we come a long way since then! Or have we? As the song says, “When will they ever learn?”.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 08:37:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015