Queensland gillnet fishers - a story and history

The project interviewed Queensland gillnet fishers with decades of experience in inshore net fisheries, many of whom had inherited a multi-generational family history in these fisheries, to document their perspectives and observations before this valuable knowledge dispersed or was lost. These fishers had witnessed significant changes in natural habitats within inshore waters where they had spent most of their working lives. They served as living records of environmental transformations over the past half-century or longer, essential for authorities aiming to restore inshore habitats to their pre-human impact conditions. Additionally, this initiative captured changes in fishing practices, societal attitudes, and management approaches amidst Australia's population growth and coastal development. Above all, it provided a platform to document the oral history of these artisanal fishers, whose voices had often been overlooked in conservation and fisheries management decisions, particularly amidst recent regulatory changes affecting gillnetting licenses in the Great Barrier Reef region.