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BARRAGE ENQUIRY
TODAY
Opposition By Lakes
Fisherman
NETS AS EVIDENCE
From Our Special Staff Representative
MILANG, October 13.
Before members of the Public
Works Committee take evidence
here tomorrow about the proposal
to build barrages near the Murray
mouth, they will be shown what is
considered to be the best display of
mesh fishing gear in the Common
wealth. Local fishermen have arranged
it to support their evidence against
building barrages. Nine cutters have
been anchored near the jetty,
and hundreds of nets have been
hung on seven drying lines on the
shore at the lake. Probably 200 more
have been draped over the railing at
the shore end of the jetty. It is an
impressive proof of the value of the
fishing industry to the town. It is esti
mated that the value of the gear is
£8,000. The material for 90 per cent
of the nets came from Ireland, the
home of the world's best nets; and if
the local fishing industry passed out
of existence, it is considered that use
could not be found for the nets in
Australia, because most of them are
specially adapted for butterfish fish-
ing in the lakes. In addition to part
of the gear, members of the com
mittee will see there about 30 dinghies
and several fishermen use motor lorries
in their work.
"Barrages would mean the end of
the fishing industry here," said Messrs.
W. and John Woodrow, two leading
fishermen of the town today. They
would rob an average of 25 licensed
fishermen of their living, as well as a
few young men who help their fathers
with nets.
"We do not agree with those who say
that fishing on the lakes is dying," said
Mr. John Woodrow. "It is true, some
of the men with the most efficient, gear
have gone out of the industry, and that
some who have taken their places have
not been so successful, but it served us
and our fathers before us and we have
no complaints to make about it."
Importance Of Industry
As evidence of the importance of
fishing to Milang, 272 cases of fish were
sent to Adelaide from the local rail
way station last month. In the city
market they brought from 6/ to £2 a
case, the price being governed by
supply. Besides those consignments,
others sent by Milang fishermen work
ing in the Coorong might be sent from
Tailem Bend or taken to the market
on a motor lorry.
Normally, buttetfish are caught in
the lake only between December and
March or early in April, and then only
under a combination of favorable cir-
cumstances, which are secrets known
to experienced fishermen. Days may
pass without any return, but when fish
are there, bed and meals are forgotten
while the harvest is reaped, for
fish are capricious, and there is no
knowing how long they will remain.
Disappearance Of Cod
Lakes fishermen have all manner of
theories to explain the disappearance
of Murray cod from the lake, where
they were caught in big hauls until
1912. Milang men attribute their ab-
sence to the increasing alkalinity or
the lake water, and say that the
tendency is due to the combined effects
of the reclamation of the Murray
lands and increased irrigation. Irri
gation, they say, permits water to ab-
sorb magnesia, and other chemical con-
stituents of the reclaimed soil, and
when the proportion of the moisture
seeps back into the stream it pollutes
it. Thus cod and other river fish, are
slowly poisoned, because they have
been accustomed to fresh water Simi-
larly, it is argued, it is the alkali im-
pregnated water, and not the inflow
ing sea water, which causes lake and
lower reaches of the Murray to become
brackish.
Thus, local fishermen say, barrages
will fail to keep the lakes and lower
river fresh, because the trouble comes
from upstream, and not downstream.
They say they have definite proof of
this contention to place before the
committee tomorrow.
The belief that with the construction
of barrages Lake Alexandrina might
again become a breeding water for
Murray cod had no prospects of
realisation, said Mr. John Woodrow. A
few landholders in the Milang district
might benefit from the barrages. The
opinion of the township, expressed at
a ratepavers meeting to discuss the
project, was:—For. none: against 42.
Probably witnesses examined tomor-
row will be Councillor Kruse chairman
of the local district council Messrs.
John and W. Woodrow. S. H. Golds-
worthy, and Captains Ferguson and
Crener.
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