Papers and Proceedings o/ the Royal Socitty of fosmmzia, Volume 1241 l }, 1990

HUMAN EXPLOITATION OF THE SHORT-TAILED (PUFF/NUS TENUIROSTRIS)

by l.J. Skira

(with three tables and six text-figures)

SKIRA, I.J., 19'!0 (11:x): Human exploitation of the short-tailed shcarwater (P11f!i1111s tenuirnsl!is). Pap. Prue /.: So, Tas,11. I :c,-l-(l) 77-90. https://doi.org/10.26749/rstpp.124.1.77 ISSN 0080-4703. Department of Parks. Wildlife and Heritage, GPO Box 44A, f!ohart, Tasrnar11a, 7001.

The short-tailed shearwater or Tasmanian muttonbird Puffinustcnuirostns (Tcmminck, 1835) hrcc,ds mainly in Tasrnania, particularly on Ba,s Strait . In it is a partly protected species, suhjcet to annual open seasons. Aboriginal exploitation of this species is shown by small amount;, of material in severalarchaeological sites in Tasmania and the Austr:ilian mainlanrl; such use was limited by seasonal, technological and cultural choice. Present-Jay Aboriginal Tasmanians view the mullonhirding industry as one of their major social and economic activities. On the decline of the seal industry established by Europeans in , some sealers settled on the islands hunting game, farming and collecting shcurwatcrs for their livelihood. Throughout the I 9th and early 20th centuries, muttonbird1ng was the mainstay of the local economy, but in the last 60 years the industry has declined considerably, the annual catch falling from one million to about 300 000 chicks. Key Words: shearwater, muttonbird, Bass Strait islands, Tasmania.

INTRODUCTION proclaimed. This regulated wildlife, inclnding muttonbird hunting. until 1970. The short-tailed shearwater t!'nuirostris (Temminck, 1985), commonly known as the Tasmanian mullonbird, is one of about 100 species BIOLOGY in the relatively small order . This ancient order probably originated from groups of Most information on the biology of short-tailed aquatic present at the end of the Cretaceous has been obtained from studies on Period, some 65 million years ago (Brodkorb 1971), Fisher in the (fig. I). The but the phylogenetic history of shearwatcrs is little small size of the island ( l ha) has enabled all birds known (Kuroda 1954 ). The short-tailed shearwater to be banded and their lives followed since 1947 has not been found in any deposits apart from (Serventy 1967, 1974, 1977, Naarding 1981, prehistoric archaeological sites (Bowdler 1984, Serventy & Curry 1984, Wooller et al. 1988). Friedman I 934a,b, 194 l, Vanderwal & Horton The short-tailed shearwater is a circum-Pacific 1984). migrant, ,pending the boreal summer in the region This species is Australia', most abundant of the Aleutian Islands. It has a precise breeding and is also one of the most plentiful birds in the high regime and first appears at breeding colonies about Arctic during lhe boreal summer. It is linked to the third week of September. One egg is laid Aboriginal and European settlement in Tasmania. between 19 November and 2 December, the peak of due to its importance as a source of food. In egg-laying being 24-26 November every year. The Tasmania at present it is a partly protected species, incubation period is 53 days; the chicks hatch from subject to annual open seasons. Commercial mid-January onwards. The chick is in the burrow for muttonbirckrs take chicks and sell their meat for about 94 days and reaches its maximum l'.eight of human consumption. feathers for bedding and approximately 800 gin early April ( Lill & Baldwin provcntricular oil for medicinal and stock use; non­ 1983). Mean age at fir.st breeding is six years. Mean commercial or amateur rnuttonbirders take chicks life is 21 years, although birds can live for more than for food only. Elsewhere in Australia. short-tailed 36 years (author's observation). Annual mortality in shearwater, are fully protected and not harvested. adults is approximately I 0% and at least 50% of The chronology for this review falls into chicks die before breeding. convenient periods. Exploitation is divided into The breeding range is restricted to eastern before 180:l, 1803--50, 1850 1930 and after 1930. Australia, particularly Tasmania. There are 167 In l 928 the Animals and Birds Protection Act was colonies known around the coast of Tasmania and 77 7S IJSkira

[;J Outer Sister N

~ Inner Sister ~"1\ r ) ~\ ( \ \ ~ 20 \ II J:: km

Wybalenna Flinders Babel p~i,~e)) island W.. cat S?J Storehouse Chalky'l)

East Kangaroo , ~ I Big Green~ \ '. ~dY SJrron Goose () Chappell Fisher· o~GreenI i!lllf'" \ ~ ~Badger l. e OOgO \:JGresl Dog WoodY(j) OOTill A Kettle ~,J Vallsittart l"c~ Cape

FIG. 1 --- LocatIOn of names in the Furncilux Group. Human exploitation of the short-tailed shearwater (muttonbird) 79 its near offshore islands (fig. 2); it is unlikely that when they were most aggregated, easily taken and many more colonies remain to be discovered. The fattest. Tasmanian Aborigines did not preserve birds total area of colonies is 1527 ha and the number of for future consumption, but used the meat burrows is estimated at 11.4 million (Skira et al. immediately. 1986). The largest colony is on with an On the Australian mainland, Aborigines had estimated 2.86 million burrows (Towney & Skira limited access to shearwater colonies because the 1985). In other Australian States, has 1.45 colonies were usually on remote, relati vely in­ million burrows (Harris & Norman 1981), South accessible islands (Jones & Allen 1979). However, Australia 1.25 million (A.C. Robinson, pers. ethnohistorical accounts indicate that, during the comm.), New South Wales 25700 breeding pairs early 19th century, some islands adjacent to Wilsons (Lane 1979) and Western Australia 250 burrows Promontory were visited by Aborigines hunting (Lane 1983). Usually 80% of burrows contain eggs shearwaters (Smyth 1878, Coutts 1970). and, prior to the harvest season, approximately 50% Tasmanian Aborigines were hunter-gatherer of burrows contain chicks. The world breeding people whose technology was elementary but population of short-tailed shearwaters, based on a adequate to enable successful adaptation to the wide total 14.13 million burrows, is 11.3 million breeding range of environments in Tasmania. Their economy pairs, 81 % of which are in Tasmania. was marine-orientated for at least certain periods of the year, and the coast formed part of the habitat of every Tasmanian tribe at some stage of its seasonal EXPLOITATION BY HUMANS movements (Jones 1977). They could cross to islands only by canoe/raft or, occasionally, by Australia Pre-1803 swimming (Jones 1976, Bowdler 1980). The watercraft were inadequate for reaching more The present-day Aboriginal population of Tasmania distant islands such as the Furneaux Group and King regard the muttonbird industry as one of their major Island (Jones 1977). Their diet included wallabies, social and economic activities. In this context, and wombats, while remains of short-tailed mutton birding has been described as shearwaters occur in archaeological sites on in northwestern Tasmania and on Maatsuyker " ... a traditional seasonal activity, with origins in Island and in Louisa Bay in southwestern Tasmania the pre-history of Tasmania, which developed into an annual happening of significant importance to the Aboriginal communities in Tasmania." (Tasm. Pari. Pap. 94, 1978.) ,Albatross Human occupation in Tasmania and its near Th'ee offshore islands began about 30 000 years BP V Hummock (southern Tasmania - Allen et al. 1988); later occupation occurred at Cave Bay cave, Hunter Hunter N Island (23 000 years BP - Bawdier 1984). Ice age hunters in southwestern Tasmania, 20 000 years BP, SIeep9 .,Petrels .PeoQ"o ~ f were the most southerly humans on earth (Kiernan Walker et al. 1983). At that time Tasmania was still connected to mainland Australia. The present Dough,. coastline was formed 7000 to 6000 years ago boys (Jennings 1971). By the time of European contact, archaeological evidence suggests widespread ~ Aboriginal occupation, with a total population of about 4000 divided among nine tribes. According to Sutton & Marshall (1980), cultural adaptation by the Tasmanian Aborigines led to a type of settlement pattern and selective coastal hunting strategy similar to that found with Maoris in o 20 New Zealand and Morioris in the Chatham Islands. - km- I In all these regions, hunting strategies centred on the exploitation of fatty-meat resources (such as seals, FIG. 2 - Location of place names in the Hunter albatrosses, petrels and penguins) at the time of year Group. 80 lJ. Skim

(figs 2, 3). Those who lived along the northwestern Bety\/cen 2 f)ecernber 1797 and 25 and southwestern coasts relied on shellfish and on his first inlo what was foods such as seals, sea birds and land mammals that r.amed Bass Strait, Bass and a party of were a'Vllilable all year round, and land birds. seamen subsist.ed to a extent on ,hcarwater'; The level of exploitation of shearwaters at thi.s their 900 km around the southeastern time can only be The ar1hlUnl of material coast of rnainland A.. ustralia. salted birds present in (Hist Rec . HI: 325). Flind.ers quantity compared with later (VIO 1) described the shearwater's habitat (tables 1, 2). At Cave in H.,. frorn in evening estimated minimum numben, numhers that surpnsc unfll:custonled to shearwaters were 67 to a Iota! vertebrat.e them." faunal component of 4065 that also included 84 wallaby, 104 other 2737 rodents (Bowdler At Australia 1803·_·50 Stockyard site, shearwaters contributed 0.23% to the vertebrate fauna, based on body (O'Connor Tasmanian Aboriginal at the time of 1980). In southwestern Tasmania and settlement has been summarised by Island, the contribution of shearwaters to the total (1978) from the of George vertebrate fauna, based on body weights, varied Robinson. Tasmanian from 1 to 6% (Vanderwal & Horton 1984); when went to the Hunter to collect invertebrates are included in the analysis, 5hort­ muttonbirds hut were reluctant to go when the birds tailed shearwaters make up less than 1 %. were not present. Rubinson was told knew it The range of possible reasons for the lack of was time to go to the islands when the lightwood shearwater remains is varied. Perhaps other animals tree (Acacia ) fiowered in spring. such as seals and wallabies were in greater According to him, went from Grim to abundance and more readily captured; perhaps Trefoil Island, Trefoil Island to Island and Bird shearwaters did not breed in the same locations or in Island to Hunter Island (Plomley 1966). the same numbers as now; perhaps the Aborigines Gaughwin (1978) noted that Tasmanian did consume large numbers of these birds but either Aborigines were fond of adult birds, eggs and chicks the evidence does not survive or sites with such as food; also muttonbird fat and red ochre were evidence have not been investigated by archaeolo­ mixed together and smeared on their bodies. The gists. BowdleI' (1979) suggested that the return of birds were present for seven months but only on the shearwaters from their migration in September may islands and available to only a few tribes, principally have been the signal for Tasmanian Aborigines to those living in far northwestern Tasmania. The go to Hunter Island to obtain seals and other foods. details of Aboriginal , however, are That is, the return of the birds was a signal unclear as Robinson's journals were written thirty rather than the principal objective. Gaughwin years after sealers had made contact with Tasmanian (1978) indicated that the utilisation of shearwaters Aborigines. was limited by seasonal, technological and Within a short period of European settlement of probably cultural choice, i.e. preference for varied Tasmania in 1803, the Aboriginal population was diet. Lack of knowledge of the prehistoric reduced by a deliberate campaign of extermination di stribution of shearwater colonies means that and diseases associated with captivity (Ryan 1981). interpretation of Aboriginal lise of short-tailed In 1831, the remaining Tasmanian Aborigines were shearwaters prior to 1803, based on their present mustered by George Augustus Robinson and settled distribution, could be unreliable or even grossly at Wybalenna on under government misleading. supervision (Plomley 1987). While there, the European exploitation of short-tailed shearwaters Tasmanian Aborigines maintained their customs of began with the beaching of the Sydney Cove in muttonbirding, collecting birds and eggs during February 1797 between Preservation and Rum their season, mainly from Big , with Islands in the Furneaux Group. The crew landed smaller amounts from East Kangaroo, Chalky and safely on and erected their tents Prime Seal Islands (Plomley 1987). Plomley near shearwater burrows (Cumpston 1973). The described their internment at the settlement as a birds and a daily allowance of a cupful of rice "weep in silence" in which the return of the birds constituted a great part of their food during more was probably the highlight of each year's existence. than five months on the island (Flinders 1814). Robinson arranged a type of economic system at Human exploitation of the shorHailed shearwater (muttonbird; 81 iT ~~-~-~- ~T-- .-.~ .. ~ .-~---.-.~-.~ r '-TTT-r il _! .1- I I!: I i + --f~f- ,-- -~--+-- -~- ~t-i~tf--;Fr =-:~~;\ ~ ---1 ~ Ll! ! L It r-Cft- Distribution of Tasmanian ll~ H--r- Aboriginal Sites _ -,-J!::~- _ ALL SITE TYPES RECORDED TO SEPHM8ER 1953

10 km grid

FIG. 3 - Distribution of all Tasmanian aboriginal site types recorded up to September 1983. (Source: Archaeological Section, Department of Parks, Wildlife & Heritage, Hobart, Tasmania.) 82 lISkim

TABLE 1 Occurrence of Short"tailed Silearwaters (STSW) and Other in Excavated Shell Middens in Tasmania

Site Date {H p) rtferentc

Ca've Eay (ave Upper midden 99(h90 to 25S0l:70 (Bov/dlcr 1984) Sterile layer 3j3{Lt 100 to J960± 11 0 Lo\ver n1 [elden 396()± 110 to 71 SO±90 60 other Procel1ariidae lJpper Pleistocene 6600 [0 <19000 STSvV; 16 other Proc :l1a,.iidac Lower Pleistocene >19000 3 other Procellariid:'tc-

Muttonbird midden 1000 (Bowdler 1979) 7 STS"W; 1 fairy penguin

Rookery rockshe1 ter 1370±70 (Bowdle!" J 979) 14 auult srsw and 5 chicks: 3 other Procellariidac

Stockyard 760±70 (O'Cormor 1980) adul1 STSW; 1 fairy penguin; white-capped albatross: 4 Australian peiicans; 11 diving petrels; 3 fairy prf.O()S; :) black-,faced cormorants; 1 Pacific gLl11

Litlle Duck Bay SOO-]()OO (Bawdier 1(79) 7 STSW; 4 fairy penguin; [ white­ capped albatmss; 1 cormorant

Louisa River 1 2970±200 (Vanderwal & 27 STSW; 7 white-capped alhmross; Horton 1(84) 42 fairy prions

LOllisa River 2 25S0±IOO to 2x]O±155 9 STSW; 1 fairy penguin: ~ white­ (Vanderwal & Horton capped albatross; tJ Lcli ry prions 1(84)

Louisa River cave 1 No date (Vanderwal & 4 STSW; 1 lrItermcdime-slzed Horton 1(84) penguin; 1 white-capped albaLH)SS; rairy prion

Louisa River cave 2 870°",90 (Vanderwal & 2g STSW; fairy pengllin: I small Horton i (84) albatross; 46 fa.iry piions:, 1 diving pel I'd

Louisa Creek 1 1 2S0± 100 (V rtndcrwal 1 STSW Horton J 984)

Maalsuykcr Island 400±9U to 570:UOO 3 iO ST'SW: fairy penguin,; 10 (Vanderwal Horton white·~carpcd alb8lross; 60 fairy 1994) prions

Tasman lslalld Note elate (Harris 19(4) STSW ~ po"ibIy due to human occupalloJl Human exploitation short-tailed shear water (muttonhird)

TABLE 2 Occurrent'!? ,If Short-tailed Shearwater (STSW) and Other Seabirds in Excavated Shell Middens 011 the Australian Mainland

Site Batl' (BP) reference Description

Stevellsons Point, approx. 6501:80 4 Puff/nus sp.; 6 albatro,:s; Victoria (Coutts et al. 1984) gannet

Burrill Lake, !\lSW <.1660 (Lampert 1971) I STSW

Currarnng, NS\V 1970±80 to 3740±100 21 STSW (Lampert j 971)

Durras Norlh. NSW 480±80 (Lampert 1966) N lImerous bone-points and un worked bone

Bass Point, NSW Upper midden, 1379:1: 150 15 STSW, bone points (Bowdler 1970)

Seton, SA I 0 940± 160 to 16 11 o± 11 0 sp. (Hope et ai. 1977)

for the sale of salted the year they grow lean which is the best time for muttonbirds. wool, wallaby skins and their labour, plucking the feathers and a black woman will Aborigines were given credits that they could pluck 500 birds per day for her work .- - the exchange for items from the settlement. By 1847, feathers are usually sold for flour, spirits, etc." only 45 remained alive. The settlement at Wybalenna was closed and the survivors removed From the FlIrneaux Group Boultbee sailed to to Oyster Cove near Hobart (Ryan 1981). and to islands off Victoria. Disgusted The of numerous seals in Bass Strait in with his fellow companions, he tried a the! 8th century led to their exploitation in a short­ existence on Phillip Island but eventually his lack lived industry. On its demise, European sealers of wilderness experience caused him to destroy a began to setde permanently Oil islands in Frankl in shearwater colony by fire (Begg & Begg 1979). Sound and near . These small James Backhouse and his fellow Quaker islands had many attractions of position and natural George Walker, visited the Furneaux resources. the shearwaters, which could Group in 1832. In those days feathers vvere the main supply borh subsistence aDd a cash crop product obtained from adult birds; a method of Smith 1973). With small farming, vegetable the birds is described Backhouse & growing and some hllnting (waUabies and seals) a Taylor (1862): diverse econom hase was prov ided and the "a pit is dug near the sea-shorc, six or feet abundance of shearwaters, which were present for square, and half that A of shru bs or seven months of the year, gave the settlers a reliable, sticks is formed in two lines, a great precise and seemingly endless resource to numher of the holes, and towards the The scalers took A women from A similar is erected on the far side of the Tasmania ,!.nd mainland Am,traiia for wives. John to hide the view of the oeean. A few men lake Boultbce, an English adventurer who lived amongst their stations at the end of the enclosure furthest them for several months in 1823, described Ihe from the excavation .. and when the birds sally forth muttonbird as follows (Begg & ! 979): in the morning, they urge them onwards towards "a sort of food when eaten with the Being unable to hide among the grass and potatoes, 10 such constitutions as those who are scrub that surrounds them, they tumble into the pit inured to a life of hardiness ..At a certain time of one after another, and are suffocated." 84 IJSkira

Preservation, and Vansittari I~;lands were plucked, scalded and helped to open and pack ttl" the principal homes for the Europeans, who had birds in brine, Muttonbirding was a very soci,d resided permanently in the area since about 1815, ln occasion, an opportunity for families to renew about 1839, the price received for feathers was 3d a fricndships with other se!dom.. seen families. The pound (Stokes 1846) but severa! years Jater only 2d strong social tradition continued even as late as Ih;: a pound (Elwes 1854). Stokes noted that the eargo of J930's, when activities such as dances were two boats he saw consisted of 30 bags. each held on night on Great Island during weighing nearly 30 pounds or "the spoil of 18 000 the season (Dorothy Cook, pers. cornm.) birds". from feathers the European sealers The subsistcnce life of the Islanders was a bush collected adult birds to salt or smoke, eggs in economy which Robinson & (1987) November-December and fledglings for their oil described as a livelihood reliant on renewable .. and fat. The young birds were either salted after resource gathering and harvesting. Such an economy heing plucked and cleaned or smoked and dried in result. in a strong relationship between hetman social the large chimneys of the huts (Broadfoot 1845). groups and their resource base (U & Wenzel Occasionaily huts were destroyed when the chimney 1987), in this case shearwaters and waHabies, Work, or roof caught alight (Launceston Examiner 30 May leisure, family life and living become intertwined 1899), The sealers sailed to Launceston two or three into cohesive whole which, according to Robinson times a year to sell their goods at the markets and & Ghostkeeper (l9R7), tends to be information rich returned with stores for the next six months (Stokes and mass poor, Other features of people involved in 1846). The oil was sold in Launceston from 4s. to a bush economy are that the household unit is 4s.6d. a gallon (Elwes U\54) and mainly used in generally more stable over time and endures for lamps, Later, as technology caught up with the 19th many years, The Islander community of Bass Strait century, it was also used for machinery, railway exemplifies these features, for it lasted well over engines and carriages, and medicinal purposes, IOO years and the social differences between it and while the fat was used for soap-making, in foundries other Tasmanians always made the Islanders for smelting, tanning and for machinery (Launceston surviving all attempts to make its Examiner 26 April 1892), people conform to the 'norm'. The first fifty years of the 19th century were a The number of Aboriginal Tasmanians living on period of establishing permanency of occupation. the Furneaux Islands through the century is difficult Government interferences from Hobart came to establish. Broadfoot (1845) said, in June 1844, through Robinson, who wanted the Furneaux there were five to six huts and 15 to 16 people on Group for Aboriginal settlement and all sealers to . In September 1849, Elwes (1854) be deported. An Act was passed requiring counted six houses, six adults and fOllr children on sealers and others to depart the Straits (6 William IV , The total population was probably No. 15, 1836, repealed by 26 Victoria No.5, 1863), not more than 50 to 60 during the 1850's. In 1870, but it had little influence on settlement of the 84 or 35% of the total population were Aboriginal islands. Tasmanians (table 3). This percentage was the highest ever achieved and was only approached in 1933, a decade to be recalled later as the "good Australia 1850-J 930 times" (Ryan 1981). The main occupations of Aboriginal Tasmanians on C:lpe Il

fABLE .3 Shltistics for the Furneaux

Year* Population Tota! 2[1-1· years

Male Fe rn.:! l.., Male Female Male Fema!~'

------1870 138 04 242 84 59 49 1881 137 115 252 1901 79 n 1911 366 250 616 215 III 1921 522 383 905 82 68 289 23J 1933 567 436 1003 139 112 328 224 1947 471 382 853 105 76 297 223 1954 574 453 1027 347 243 1961 814 593 1407 460 298 1966 703 531 1234 417 285 1971 533 435 968 340 279 1976 509 448 957 342 288 1981 538 SOl 1039 351 315 1986 521 489 1010 45 49 355 335

~------,------* Sources: 1870-1901, T{lS. Pari. . 1911--86. Australian Bureau of Statistics.

independence and extra cash to buy things which erected his tent on the island to continue teaching otherwise were out of reach. the children (Murray-Smith 1979). The best accounts we have of this unique Islander Brownrigg could never reconcile himself to community are from the writings of Church of muttonbirdingo He was revolted by the activities and England missionaries such as Nixon (1857), Reibey the smelL On his first visit in 1872 he described (Tasm. Pari. Pap. 17. Legislarive Council J 862 Chappell Island as very bleak and barren looking, Letter from the Venerable Archdeacon Reibey, on and infested with snakes (Murray-Smith 1979). He the subject of the half-caste islanders in the Straits; Tasm. Pari. Pap. 48. Legislative Council 1863 Half­ caste islanders in Bass's Straits Report of the Ven. Archdeacon Reibey), Montgomery (Ryan 1981; l"T Hart 1963) and, in particular, Cannon Marcus loBOr- Brownrigg who visited the islands on 13 occasions ~3 L "f--oQ j L ...... ' ~ ~~",,.o 'b. GO between 1872 and 1885 (Murray-Smith 1979). Q 60 'j~ ~;. 0 cR Bishop Nixon had nothing to say about muttOrl­ rr birding, as he arrIved after the season, but he had 40 [': P "" \'\, several restless nights on Van,ittart Island due to the J()Go ~1I1:F'\ smell of his muttonbird feather mattress and the 20 ,.. 20 "incessant invasion of fleas" from it. In 1862, o -.L-.L...L...L-.L.---L-I I I I L _..L.. 0 Archdeacon Reibey found the Islanders simple and 1920 1940 19tiO 1geo primitive, free from the vices of more civilised life (Tasm. Pari. Pap. 17. 1862). Sixty-five people attended one of his church services on Chappell !sland. Ten years later, on Chappell Island, FIG. 4 -- Variation in number of males. 20 years Brownrigg held a service in the third week of and over on Cape Barren Island, and percentage of February for 30 people who had begun to gather for these who occupation was listed as lahourer. the mul1ullbird season. The schoolmaster had even (Source: Commonwealth Electoral rolls.) O(J lJSkira

l0iH-.; su-uck d",,cnbed ·Srrllrh 1979) as: odd looking struc:lmes: they seldom exceeded four feel in at the: "valls, anci aholJt six al the The sides and roof arc made up (I! ,.,licKs, and covered in with cuarse gras,. All opemng at the side furms the door. and a ,Ion"s bllilt up oue end for lile Grass is then strewed upon the: earlhe!J fluo!. and the habitation is considered to be huts arc tenanled only during the 'season lim!] ited for the lolcler of ihe

In 11\72 the season here consisted of and Oiling was island for so long because of its oil and birds, its and iI, close proy. settlement on Barren lsland and other islands l! had lOS inhabitants ill 1879 Bass's Straits: Vines upon Ihe fever in the

200 FIG. 5-- Sl.'asonai num/Ja 0/ were engaged in at 20 ,hcds in J924--R8. I S90 (Luuwf'stol1 ExamtrlO' 8 J 8(0) and 155 in i 908 (J'a.l'm Parl. 57, 190«; Flimcaux Islands: upon the slare of tbe islands by Mr .J ,E.C Lord, Commissioner ill' Police). In ]908 there were '7/1, persons m, B3hel Island; however, J 936 there were 24 sheds there and only six on Island, On other i ,1an0s in 1936 there were I sheds on Great on Little Green hiand and three on Little

and fat trorn each shed on were brought into Launcestoll, to the mai.nland or. later, and New Zealand, There 1690 1300 1910 number of birds infonmllion available FIG, 6- Annual muttoniJird Sl.'tlsons lR92- of cnrrespondents to the /9/7. Sraie.· I, poor season; 2. he/ow sort of season (1\HTage; 3, average: 4, ahove (I)'cragc' 5, excep­ good, and Human exploitation o/the short-tailed shearwater (muttonbird) 87 depicted in figure 6; this shows that each season was one million to about 300 000 chicks (Skira 1987). different but that exceptionally good and bad The reasons are mainly social, such as changing seasons occurred infrequently. eating habits in Tasmania (as people have no longer Time had caught up with the Islanders during the grown up with a tradition of muUonbirding), second half of the 19th century. Alienation of the increasing expenses and decreasing participation in Furneaux Group by Europeans began under the muttonbirding by younger Aboriginal Tasmanians. Waste Lands Acts of 1861-70. Parts of Chappell By 1961, when the population in the Furneaux Island were leased and stocked (Ryan 1981) and in Group was 1407 (table 3), shearwaters had become 1887 land on Flinders Island was made available for relatively unimportant economically although the sale following a survey of the island (Tasm. Pari. social tradition was still strong (Skira 1987). The Pap. 62. 1887 Report on Flinders' Island, by John value of the 1985 commercial season in Tasmania W. Brown Surveyor) bringing about a rapid increase was $328000 of which $120000 was contributed in population. from the Furneaux Group and $208 000 from the In June 1863 Archdeacon Reibey found 28 men, Hunter Group. 27 women and 48 children scattered around the Hand-in-hand with commercial muttonbirding islands (Tasm. Parl. Pap. 48,1863). The first census was the taking of birds purely for home for the Furneaux Group gathered on 7 February 1870 consumption. The taking by amateurs began early in gave a population of 242 (138 males: 104 females) of the settlement of Tasmania but became widespread whom 132 were 16 years or older (table 3). Only 13 only when shearwaters first began to breed near men were engaged in farming or seafaring, the population centres, approximately 60 years ago. remaining adults were either hunters, self-employed Access to colonies by vehicles and boats became or, in the case of women, doing home duties. Less easy, and muttonbirding reached its peak in 1977 than half the population could read or write. In 1881 when almost 8000 licences were sold. In recent the population was 252 (137 males: 115 females). years, the season has only been permitted on the Electoral role figures available since 1910 show that west coast and Bass Strait islands. The daily bag the population of Cape Barren Island increased in quota is 10 birds on the west coast and 25 birds in the 1920's and then steadily declined (fig. 6). The Bass Strait. tradition of hunting, which included muttonbirding, continued after the First World War. In the 1911 census 81 men gave their livelihood as the capture of animals and their products. In 1921, 140 were New Zealand engaged in hunting but occupations changed over the years as people looked for steady income, mainly Thirty-two petrel and seven albatross species breed as labourers (fig. 6). in the New Zealand region (Readers Digest 1985). A Elsewhere in Australia muttonbirding was carried large number of these were once exploited by on to any extent only in Victoria, where eggs and Maoris and the Morioris (Scarlett 1979, Davidson chicks were collected principally for home 1984) and for the most part taken from areas where consumption (Launceston Examiner 12 April 1873, they breed at present. In fact, the inhabitants found Campbell 1900). The taking of birds was prohibited almost every bird edible and even ate specimens there sometime during the 1920's (Lewis 1923). (e.g. short-tailed shearwater) washed up on beaches. Today, only the Puffinus grise us and grey-faced petrel Pterodroma macroptera are allowed to be taken by Maoris and their descendants, Australia Post-1930 and only the former may be sold commercially. Occasionally the mottled petrel Pterodroma A decline in the number of mutton bird sheds in the inexpectata is taken in association with these Furneaux Group occurred in the 1930's. This decade (Robertson & Bell 1984). was greatly affected by social conditions brought The short-tailed shearwater has been recovered about by the Great Depression which forced people from two middens in the Chatham Islands (one bird to leave Cape Barren Island and seek work on each - Sutton 1979), one at Tiwai Point, South Flinders Island or Tasmania. Figure 6 shows a steady Island (two birds - Sutton & Marshall 1980) and decline in the number of men on Cape Barren Island from middens at Tom Bowling Bay, North Island, from about 60 in 1920 to only 20 in 1980. In the last and at Marfell Beach, South Island (Scarlett 1979); 60 years, the annual take has declined from almost they were all probably gathered from the beach. 88 l.r Skira

~~orthern {ron} ()ctober tei aLolllihe 1860',; that becz-unc confined to chicks. The l\\/C) the main /\It,U!S and [!lui!s catches of up to une rnHlion chicks \A/ere

IS

the

-- one coracoid each frorn yean; oldl and Amak!1ak I,land 1000 years old) and two humeri from Prince of Wales (1000 years old). Friedmann (I 94J) concludes, because of the remains, that the short­ the Inuits of or "shearwater are some of the Prince of Waks causal factors. mentions that the Innit inhabitants of St Lawrence Island have cerlain taboos in connection wilh the bird. However, Robert comrn.) writes ACKNO\VLEDGEMENTS that Francis Fay, who until lived the Inuits for many on St Lawrence Island, Brotbers, Davi.d stated that they do short· tailed shcafwaters and for their constructive find them to be "very very and thai criticism of the Murie his information that There is no evidence that short-tailed shearwalers, REFERENCES washed up on beaches the east

coast of Japan, were used for food (Oka & ALLEI';, J.. COSGROVE, R. & BROW;;, S .. 1988: New Maruyama! (86), but until the archaeological data from tbe southern forests harvested small numbers of the native streaked region, Tasmania: a preliminary statement. Allst shearwater Caloncctris [eucome/as which breeds in Archeol. 27: 75 .. 88. large Humbers, on island:; off Honshu. BACKHllUSE, J. & TAYLOR. 1862: TliE LIFE AND LABOURS Of' GEORGE WASHINGTON WALKER OF HOBART TOWN. TASMANlA. CONCLUSION Bennett & London, BEGG, A.C. & BEGu, 1979: 1HE WORLD OF JOlIN SOIJ LIREE. WhllcDUHs. Christchurch. ShorHaiied shearwatef'; have been BOWDLEk. S .. 1970: Bass Point: The excavation of a South humans for thow;ands of years L:ast Australian she!! midden showing cultural and range. In Tasmania, archaeological economic change, Unrub!. BA (Hons) thesis, evidencc indicates that used them Univ. Sydney. incidental food to other vertebrates such as seals, BOWDUR, S., 1979: Huuter Hill. Hunter Island. Unpuh!. wallabies, wombats and wildfowl. yhD theSIS, ANU. Canberra. The aITivaJ of Europeans in Tasmania HOWL'LEi(, S .. 1980: Hunters and farmers in the Hunler Islands. Rec. Q. VUoI. Mus, 70: 1.. ·17. [ron1 a activity to one on BUWDUR, S., 1984: Hunter Hill, Hunter Island. Terra bush economy wa:·; maintained for many Australis 8: 1-/48. years. The sealers who settled on the Bass Strait BROAIJf·OUT. 1.. J 845: An unexpected Visit to Flinders' islands hunted game, farmed the land and collected Jsland .in Bass's Straits. Chambers Edin . .f. 90: 20 shearwaters for their livelihood. The Sep. 11\45. was unaware of the BR(!])KORB, P<, 1971: Origin and evolution of hirds. In r;Hner, D

BIOLOGY, VOLUME I. AC3demic Press, New Allen, .1., Golson, J. & R. (Eds): SWvDA York: 19-55. AND SAHUL. PREHiSTORiC STUJ)lE.\' CA~lPBELL. A.1., 1900: NHSTS AND F:GGS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA. MELANESIA A D AUSTRALiAN BIRDS, PART II. Pawson & AUSTRALIA. Academic Lundon: 17- Brailaford, Sheffield: 882··892. JONES. R. & ALLE".J, l, J 979: A ~tr(ltified archaeologl( til COUTTS, P.l.F, 1970: The archaeology of Wilson's site on Great Glennie Bass Strait. Promontory. Aust. Ahorig. Stud. 28: 1··153. Arch. 9: 2-·11 COUTTS, PJ.F., ALPl~, K. & OR, ['L, 1')84: KIFRNAJ'~; K., JO~ES; R. & RANSO~~, D .. tSlH3: New .-:vidctlct' Archaeological investigatIOns at Captains P(1inl. from Fraser Cave for gLlclal age Inan in south­ Mallac«,ta. In Coutts, PJ.F. (Ed.): COASTAL west Tasrnania. Nature ARCHAEOLOGY IN SOIlTH·EASTERN KURODA, N., 1954: ON TI1F CU\SS/FiCAT!O/V AND VlCTORIA.Rec. Viet. Arch. SUr\'. 14. PHYLOGENY OF TilL ORDEN CUMPSTOI-:, J.S., 1973: FIRST ViSITORS TO BASS PARTlCUl.ARIY .SlIFAN STRAIT. Roebuck Soc. Pubi. No.7. (PUFFINOS). Amhor, Tokyo. DAVIDSON, I.M., 1984: THE PREHISTORY OF NEW LAMPERT, RJ., 1966: An excavation at [lunas Zr:Al.AND. Longman Faul, Auckland. South Wales. Arche!!/. [,hys. Anthropol. ELWES, R., [354: A S'KETCi1~R' TOUR ROUND '[HE 1: 83 .. 118. WORLD. Hurst & Blackett, London. LAMPERT, R.J .. 1971 Burrill Lake and Currarong. Coastal FUNDERS, M .. 1801: OBSERVATIONS ON THE COAST sites in soulhern New South Wale.s. OF VAN DJEMEN'S LAND, ON BASS STRAIT Australia 1. 1 .. 86. AND ITS jgLANDS, AND ON PART OF THE LANE, S.G., 1979: Summary of the breeding seabirds in COASTS Of" NEW SOUTH WALES. Libraries New South 'Wales coastal isiands. Corelia 3: 7- i (I. Board of South Australia, 1965. Facsimile Edition LANE, S.O., 1983: Shorl·lailed shearwuter on Figure of No.66. John Nichols, London: ]·-36. Eight Island, Archipelago of the Recherche. FUNDERS, M" 1814: A VOYAGE TO TERRA AUSTRALlS. Western Australia. F:mu 83: 37 .. ·38. O. & W. Nicol, London. LEwrs, P., 1923: Notes on the proper protection of the FRIEDMANN, FL 1934a: Bird bones from eskimo ruins on St muuonbird rookery al Woolamai. Emu Law!('nce Island, Bering Sea. J. Wash. Aead. Sci. 61-64. 24: 82-96. LUI. A. & BALDWl'!, J., 1983: Weight FRlEDMANN, H.,l934b: Bird bones from old eskimo ruins mode of depot fat accumulation in Alaska. J. Wash. Aead. Sci. 24: 230·237. short·tailed shearwaters. Aust. FRlEDMANN, 1941: Bird bones from eskimo ruins at 891-902. Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska . .T. Wash. Acad. Su. MO\fTGO'AFRY, H.B., J 892: A mUHonhird island. New Rev. 31: 404-409. (London): 227.. 235. OAUGHWIK, D., 1978: A bird in the sand: an investigation MURlE, O.I., 1959: Fauna of the Aleulian lslands and of muttonbirds, other seahirds and waterfowl in Alaskan Peninsula. North Am. Fauna 61: 1-406. recent prehistoric south ·east Australia. i.!npuhl. Ml!RRfs,S'AJTH, S., ] 973: Beyond the pale: the Islander BA (Hons) lhesis, ANU, Canberra. community of Bass Strait in the nineteenth HARRIS, M.P. & NOR'VtAN, F.I., j 981: Distribution and century. Pap. Proc. Tasm. Hisi. Res. Assoc. 20: status of coastal colonies of seabirds in Victoria. 167-200. Mem. Not. Mus. Viet. 42: 89·106. MURRAY SMITH, S., 1979: MISSJON TO THE ISLANDS. HARRlS, S., 1984: A seal hunter's site on Tasman lsland. Cat and Fiddle Press. Hobart Aust. Archeol. 19: 8-14. NAARDlNG, 1.A., 1981: Study of the short·tailed HART, P.R., 1963: The Church of England in Tasmania shearwatcr, Pl~ffinus tenuirnstris in Tasrnania. under Bishop Montgomery. ]XS9·1901. Unpub!. Tasm. Nat. Pks Wild/. Tech. Rep. 3: 1·-34. MA. ~hcsis, l.Tniv. Tasm, Nrxu,", F.R., 18S7: THE CRUISE OF THE 'BF./iCON'. A HOPE, J.n., LA'~PERT, RJ., EUMOCH)SOI\, E., SMlnI, M.l & NARRArIVL OF A VISIT TO THE ISLANDS IN VAN 1 ETS, G.F", 1977: Late Pleistocene faunal BASS'S STRAITS. Bell & Daldy, London. ren :lins from. S,:ton rock shelter. Kangaroo bland, O'CONNOR, S., 1980: Bringing it. all back heme: analysis Australi" 1. Biogeog. 4: 363-385. of the Ycr!.cbrate fauna! remains from Ihe JENNINGS) 1971: level changes and land links. In Stockyard Site, Hunler Island, North·Wes! DJ. Golson,.1 (Eds): ABON/GINAr. Tasmania. Unpub1. BA (Bon,) thesls, Univ. New ENV1RON;',1FNT IN AUSTRALJA. England. OKA, M. & MARl,;YMII\. 1986: Mass mortality of short JONES, R., 1976: Tasmania: aquatic machines and offshore tailed shearwatcrs along the Japrme.sc coast. Tori ishmds. //1 Sievcking, G. de G., Longworth, LlI. & 34 97-·lO4. Wibon, K.E. (Eds): PROBLEM,,' IN ECONOMIC PI.OMLEY. N . .I.B .. 1966: FRiENDLY MfSS!ON T/·!E AND SOCIAL ARCHAEOLOGY. l)uckw()r\h, TASMANIAN JOURNALS AND PAPERS OF London: 235-263. GEORGE AUGUSTUS ROBINSON 1829/834. JONES, R., \ 977: Man as an element or a continental fauna: Tasm. Hisl. Res. Assoc., Hobarl. the case of the ~undering the Bassian Bridge. in PW'v!l.FY. N.l.B., )987 WEEP IN SfLFNCE. 1\ HiSTORY 90 l.J. Skira

OF THE FLINDERS ISLAND ABORIGINAL Diamond, AW. & Filion, F.L. (Eds): THE VALUE SETTLEMENT. Blubber Head Press, Hobart. OF BIRDS. Int. Counc. Bird Preserv. Tech. Publ. PORTENKO, L.A., 1972: BIRDS OF THE CHUKCHI 6: 63-75. PENINSULA AND WRANGEL ISLAND. VOL. 1. SKIRA, LJ., WAPSTRA, J.E., TOWNEY, G.N. & NAARDING, Akad. Nauka, Leningrad, USSR. (English J.A., 1986: Conservation of the short-tailed translation 1981.) shearwater Puffinus tenuirostris in Tasmania, READERS DIGEST, 1985: COMPLETE BOOK OF NEW Australia. Bioi. Conserv. 37: 225-236. ZEALAND BIRDS. Readers Digest, Sydney. SMYTH, R.B., 1878: THE ABORIGINES OF VICTORIA. ROBERTSON, C.J.R. & BELL, B.D., 1984: Seabirds status London. and conservation in the New Zealand region. In STEPHENS, G., 1985: H.H. Montgomery - the mutton bird Croxall, J.P., Evans, P.G.H. & Schreiber, R.W. bishop. Occ. Pap. Univ. Tasm. 39: 1-17. (Eds): STATUS AND CONSERVATION OF THE STOKES, J.L., 1846: DISCOVERIES IN AUSTRALIA; WORLD'S SEABIRDS. Int. Counc. Bird Preserv. WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE COASTS AND Tech. Publ. 2: 573-586. RIVERS EXPLORED AND SURVEYED DURING ROBINSON, M. & GHOSTKEEPER, E., 1987: Native and local THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. 'BEAGLE' IN THE economics: a consideration of economic evolution YEARS 1837-38-39--40--41--42--43. VOLS I & fl. and the next economy. Arctic 40: 138-144. T. & W. Boone, London. RYAN, L., 1981: THE ABORIGINAL TASMANIANS. SUTTON, D.G., 1979: Island and coastal fowling strategies University of Queensland Press, Lt Lucia. of the prehistoric MoriorLln Anderson, A.J. (Ed.): SCARLETT, R.J., 1979: Avifauna and man. In Anderson, BIRDS OF A FEATHER: ESSAYS IN HONOUR AJ. (Ed.): BIRDS OF A FEATHER: ESSAYS IN OF R.J. SCARLETT. Brit. Archeol. Rep. (Int. Ser.) HONOUR OF R.J. SCARLETT. Brit. Arch. Rep. 62: 123-140. (Int. Ser.) 62: 75-90. SUTTON, D.G. & MARSHALL, Y.M., 1980: Coastal hunting SERVENTY, D.L., 1967: Aspects of the population ecology in the subantarctic zone. N.z. J. Arch. 2: 25-49. of the short-tailed shearwater Puffin us TOWNEY, G.N. & SKIRA, U., 1985: Seabird Islands No. tenuirostris. Proc. XIV Int. Ornith. Cong.: 139. Babel Island, Furneaux Group, Tasmania. 165-190. Corella 8: 103-104. SERVENTY, D.L., 1974: The biology behind the muttonbird USHER, P.J. & WENZEL, G., 1987: Native harvest surveys industry. Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasm. 107: 1-9. and statistics: a critique of their constitution and SERVENTY, D.L., 1977: Seabird Islands No.49. Fisher use. Arctic 40: 145-160. Island, Tasmania. Corella 1: 60--62. VANDERWAL, R.L. & HORTON, D., 1984: Coastal southwest SERVENTY, D.L. & CURRY, P.J., 1984: Observations on Tasmania. Terra Australis 9: 1-137. colony size, breeding success, recruitment and WOOLLER, R.D., BRADLEY, J.S., SERVENTY, D.L. & SKIRA, inter-colony dispersal in a Tasmanian colony of 1.J., 1988: Factors contributing to reproductive short-tailed shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris over success in short-tailed shearwaters. Proc. XIX Int. a 30-year period. Emu 84: 71-79. Ornith. Congr.: 71-79. SKIRA, LJ., 1987: Socio-economic aspects of muttonbirding in Tasmania, Australia. In (accepted 4 May 1989)