C:Che Commercial Fishes and Fisheries of Queensland. AN ESSAY. ]. DOUGLAS OGJLBY. 'l'm;: fa1·-stretching and deeply indented coast of Queensland, inter­ sected as it is by numerous estuaries, forms an ideal spawning and :feeding ground for many and varied prod nets of marirni life. It is not, therefore, astonishing to realize that the wealth contained within onr wak:rs is incalculable, and will at some fotnl'f! time, when exploited by more practical and ::ie::ienti:Oc methods than are now in vogue, constitute not only one of the rie::hest but assuredly one of ti.le most permanent and reliable assets of the· State; one that dmnands no outlay for its upkeep, which with bonnteomi hand ill ev1!r engaged in filling up the gap$ made in its rHnk~ by the pitiless ra.vages of man, and which is wholly unaffected by flood er drought, by internal or external eorrvnlsion. Naturally with so magnificent a coastline we :find that fishes oeeupy a foremost position in our marine economy. It has been estimated th;;t the waters of Queensland, together with the ontlying islands and reds, nourish folly a thousand distinct varieties of fishes, at least one fourth of whid1 arc edible; many of these arc no doubt destined to prove of great commm·cial importance at no very 'distant date. To attempt to give, within the limits of sur:h an 11.rticfo as this, more than a mere sketch of the marvelous wealth awaiting exploitation in our seas would be absurd, and we shall, there.fore, confine ourselves to a review of such families or groups as \\;ll eventually prove of economic value to the people of the State-). Before, however, eonuncncing' our remarks on the better known forms of edible fit'lhe~';, it is advisable to point out that much excellent and wholer,;ome food is being wasted here through the not unnatural pr~~judicc which exfats against eating the :flesh of sharks and rays. This prejudice is, however, based on a rniscouception of the faets, strengthened by the disgust and horror with which thegreatman..eatiiigsharksiiifcct the community. For instance all our rays, including the so·called "shovcl.-nose sharks" ( Rk-ynchobati.(,s and Rhinobat11s), and smaller 2 The Commercial Fishes an1l Fisl1erJes of Queensland. The Commercial l'ishes 1md FlslJel'ies of Qneensland. a sharks, such as the '' gum mies'' (.1.l!f.uste lns) 1 '' wobbegongs '' ( Orectolobus) and "cat-shn.rks" (Bt·achrolitrits, II eteroscyllium, and Chiloscyllium) ar~ the further northwards we proceed. Our "6xcye" is the eastern repre­ eq;1ally as c~ean feeders as ~he fishes which we eonsumc without cornment :sentative of tbe famous "tarpon" of the Florida seas, which is i·eputed da1ly; that is to s&,y they, like the latter, live principally on crustaceans to be the noblest of all game fishes, the exploit.s of which entirely over­ mollusks, smaller fi...~es~ worms, and_ the like. Dr. Irving Field, writin~ shadow tho&i of the Atlantic salmon and the Indian "mahsecr ," while of th 1~ .North American representatives of the.se selachians, states that the leader of this n ot.able quartette is the "milkfish" of the Anglo­ they "11re not only palatable in the fresh condition but are as good a.r; Jndians, by ·whoru it is held in high estimation. So much, indeed, was many other f.lshcs when preserved by the standard methods.'' Some of lts flesh appreeia.ted by nativn IndiH.n potentates tl1at nearly two centuries the specieR whe:u e~1med he compares to ''medium grade salmon, •• nud ago it, together with the oxeye, was introduced into the great a1-tifieial :rA mar~'s tliat cooked in various ways he found that "the canned article rain-water tauks, which a:re sc~itttered over the length and breadth of wus b1g.hly. p raised for its ft a vor 11.nd palat ab ility. '' Other species the the native principalitie.s, and h<1s there bred and thriven · ever since, i-eprese~ tab ve.~ of ~u.r ''gummi es, ' ' h e contjnues, are ''preserved· ' best <lespite the com>tant drain wade on them by men, crocodiles, cormomnts, by salting and dr.nng," and when p1'cpared in the same way he and ,and countless other enemies. B oth these species ll'.light , therefor e, be ot;-er:s ".~ou,1~ d~~Hc~ little ?r no (~~(!rence between it and the ordinary ad van tageoiisly utilized £01· stocking tanks and waterholes in our own s~,t-cod~sh, while It had tne addttlonal "advantage o.f being boneless. " back eo1mtry, ·where they would not only be valuabh: as a. source of Slllce \.nth f!Ol'l'Hlltmclable foresight the Government 0£ New s"outh Wa1os wholesome and nut.dtions food for 'the neighboring settlers, but also as have taken upon themselves the task of eaptnrin<> and sellina .. t a llleans of keeping clo'wn the numbers of the crayfishes (Paracham;,ps bl . ,., '"' d. a r easo:ia e Prl<'-C the product.-; of their seas, these fuhes have found their bi.cari natu.~ ), the borings of which form a serious source of danger to artificial dams. In the estuaries and bays along OUl' entire coastline way mtn the Sydney market, and ha ve so risen in pop;1lar esteem. that t~ey ar e 11c~w purc!rnsed with. avid~ty by the ve1~y people, who a ye;r ago we find several species of small deep-bcdied herringtt ; these grO'\Y to >rnuld have spurned them with chsgust. But enough has been written about eight inches long and are excellent breakfast fishes, having all the to sd·how that we are rejeetiug a potent supply of wholesome and pala.tablfl flavor o.f the trne British lwrring, while on our southern 8eaboard 2 there f 00 . .u.rri\'4'.i during the winter months count.less hosts of true "pilchards" ( .1imuliygasler ?1,£1or>ikha1·dtts), which are destined sornc day to form tho The next order with which we have to deal is the Isospondyli a lar..,.c• 0 n udrus of a fishery, which may, with the co-operation of our southern and m1portant cr1·oup t · · I } · ' ' . o con ammg t ie lerrmgs, pilchards, sprats, sh;ids nejghbor, in time rival in magnitude and importance the pilchard ~almon~~. tL·~ut.s, smelts. barramnndil'l,1 and other .fishe.s o£ tlw highost :fisheries of the English Channel. With them are al ways associated two commc, , . 1deial , n:nportance. , to .manki · · nd · It is· no t generaJl Y kn- own that our l!lpecies of sprat, the "blue sprat" or "tailor maray" (StolephonM seas .'m . estuaries_ tee ~1. with many .rspecies of hcn·ings and herring-li ke robustus) and the "silver sprat" (Hyverloplrns sp1·attellides), both of fishes, m,my of wh1ch. tf properly utJlizP.d sho Id f · · bl · · · , • 11 prove o no rncomnder- which atta1n a length of from three to four inclles, are delicious pan­ a e. economrn value to the State, but arc under existing circumstances :fishes. and if properly treated would form the most delicate sardine on wholly lost t~ us. Among the largcl' forms which frequent our shore-; the market. The supply of these little 'fishes is practic11.lly inexhaustible, ~ay be men~1o~~cl the " MorHton Bay Salmon" ( Clta nos chanos) , the n.nd they vi&it the coast annually for the purpose of spawning from May oxeJ:'c ~errmg . (11'fegalops cy7Jr·ino·ides), the "hnna:na fish" (El . to ;July inclusive. In our northern seas several other species of sprats hawaums·is) a..nd th "} 1 f1 ·1 " ( . , ops . , · c ac Y .1s l Lilbul.a glossodonta) all of b · h and sardines swll.rm throughout the year, thronging the shallow inshore attam a Ienoth of frorn tw< t ,.. , f t ' · w IC · • >:> • • > .o n~e ee · an<1 ar<i of excHlfont flavor tl1on h w::iten1 ;~t stated s<1asons in illimitable 1111mh1~1·s. All along our coasts like all. the fa.miJ.y to which they belong, they a.r·<~ too riclily endo;,ed wi~h and estuades may also be found nnmcrou~ anchovies, ranging iu si.ze slern:e1 barbHd bones whiC\11, lying f.rce in tlrn muscle a t t. Coll"Id"r·'bl . ., re ap .o eau.'le from eight inches to thrl~(~ aceordiug to the spe<!ies, among which may be - " i.. e anuoyance to 8.lld necessit.at.e constant care . mentioned the southern true anchovy (Engt·auUs antipod·um ), whieh so t.ho <'OW•nmer .A.Il th 11 h - · on the part of t , , , ' . ·. esc s es belong !llore properly to the::..~rop i Ml than closely resembles its more fo.mous Atlantic cousin that for n. long while .he tc mt-P.ra.fo zone, and, tlrnrefore, incremm in numlJers 11nd import.a.n ee tboy \Vero eonsider<~<l identical, and from whi<~h doubtlc!SS will some day '.'l"be narnn "b>J.rramuoc:l!., llas been o ul . - . - -- be manufactured a sauce and a paste equaling the finest products of loh11.b1t porma.ne.nlly or ~. t ct>rtaio «C1t8ons ~n~., n1 Iy •mpo""d o1t aEv•~ ral h1rge fl•llM Whicb (lVco<'frat()dus) ,rnd tile " palmer" (L~.te~\ . r :rnr. rre~h Wittcr8, ~ uch a.~ the "lung-ll.ab" British and E11ropean factories. lt will thus be .seen that even in this freshwater cluJ>P.id, known tecbnlcally as ~~l ~ut >t l.!< i;ro9e,.1y "'PP!lt~abJe 0•1ly to t.he Jariro order, neglected so fa.r by our fishermen because 0£ the gonerally small :rivers ;iorth ot the D&weon: and overnu~Jle•<lp~qus lcic.~.a.1:dli, foU.lld lco nll 011r Queenslan'd Ouh 1t<a.