Caring for Country. Below the waterline.
Luke Anedda’s boat is just eight metres long, specially built to suit the shallow waters of Corner Inlet. Image by Richard Cornish.
Luke Anedda pulls his boat onto the boat ramp at Port Welshpool. He has been out on the waters at Corner Inlet neat Wilsons Promontory since before dawn. Here the waters are shallow, comprised of five channels and seagrass meadows. Luke is just one of 18 commercial fishers working Corner Inlet. The fish from here, such as King George whiting, rock flathead, and garfish are considered some of the best in the nation and favoured by world renowned chefs such as Neil Perry and Ben Shewry. Luke’s boat is very low-tech. No fish finders, no big motors to haul in big nets. It’s a small boat, just eight metres long, specially built to suit the shallow waters of Corner Inlet and designed to have zero impact on the seagrass meadows. “I’m a third-generation commercial fisher,” says Luke. “I intend the family tradition to continue long after I retire.”
Luke’s father, Nick was one of the pioneers of the new wave of environmental fishers who have made the Corner Inlet fishery internationally renowned. “People have been fishing here for a long time,” says Nick. He has retired but still spends his days mending nets and fixing boats. “The indigenous people were followed by Chinese who fished Corner Inlet near Port Albert and dried their fish on racks to send to countrymen working up in the Omeo goldfields.” Nick can remember flounder being strung up on string and sent by train to Melbourne and seagulls following boats because of all the dead by-catch. “I realised that if I was going to pass down work to my children and grandchildren, we had to change how we did business.” He spent sleepless nights working out better ways to catch the fish, so there was not as much mortality. The method that he developed in the late 1980s is still being used today. Fish that are caught in a fine net are brought alongside the boat. “It used to be done in very shallow water that was too warm and would kill the fish,” remembers Nick. Now it is done in deeper water. Using little hand nets, Luke and his deckhand pull out the right-sized fish and send them straight to a saltwater slurry. Smaller fish and unwanted species and gently lifted over the net and sent straight back into Corner Inlet.
Luke and Nick, along with the other commercial fishers of Corner Inlet, work hand in hand with the local Yarram Yarram Landcare organisation. “A while back, the inlet was invaded by purple sea urchins,” says Luke. “The urchins came in and started eating the seagrass meadows,” he explains. “The seagrass makes Corner Inlet so special, it’s why our fish taste so good.” The fishers catch the seeds of the seagrass, which float away when mature. They take these to onshore collation points, and at certain times of the year, when the winds and tides are right, they plant the seeds alongside little hessian sandbags, allowing the current to pull the seeds under the sandbag. “When it all goes to plan, the seeds hunker under the bags and sprout and send out roots,” says Luke. The fishers also transplant seagrass from one part of the inlet to others to ensure its growth.
“This is a very seasonal waterway, “ says Luke. “It is always changing. The fish are always moving around. It is very busy underwater, but it is also very fertile waters,” he says. “The grass is home to all sorts of tiny prawns and worms, which the fish love to feed.” The Anedda family were originally from Sicily and have maintained their love of eating seafood. “When you have some of the best seafood in the world on your doorstop, it would be a sin not to make the most of it,” says Nick. “But the seafood from here is very delicate. It needs a light touch in the kitchen.”
Luke drives his boat out of the water in order to pack his fish for delivery pick-up. “This fish will be in the Melbourne Seafood Centre tonight and in the food markets first thing tomorrow morning for Victorian seafood consumers to enjoy. That is fresh!”
The fish from here, such as King George whiting, rock flathead, and garfish are considered some of the best in the nation and favoured by world renowned chefs such as Neil Perry and Ben Shewry. Image by Richard Cornish.