The Aboriginal people of coastal Sydney had their own names for the different species of fish, some of which were recorded by First Fleet officers. The general name for fish was maugro. Only two of the fish seen caught or eaten were named by the British colonists - these were bream and mullet.
The study concluded that over 3.3 million aquatic animals were harvested from the waters of northern Australia alone and included finfish, shellfish, small baitfish, mullet, catfish, sea perch/snappers, bream, barramundi, mussels, cherabin, other bivalves, prawns, oysters and mud crabs (DAFF 2001).
Details. Fishing began early in Van Diemen's Land. Though it is unknown whether the Aborigines ate scale fish, they certainly ate shellfish. When British pioneers found Tasmania's waters contained species which seemed familiar - the local oyster and mussel were indistinguishable from the British varieties.
Some types of fish that would have been caught included barramundi, catfish, mullet, flathead and shark. Throughout Queensland, Aboriginal people made and used many different types of spears for fishing. Some spears were one single piece of wood, others were multi- pronged, and some were barbed.
Roasting on hot coals: The basic technique for cooking flesh, including most meats, fish and small turtles. A further slow roasting, involving covering with coals and ashes may have then been employed to thoroughly cook the meat or to soften an otherwise tough meat. After cooking, the meat would be quickly consumed.
For thousands of years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have used fishing to build a livelihood for themselves, their families and their communities. A catch of fresh fish provides a community with immediate subsistence and future trade and sale options, as well as employment.
The Aborigines traditionally wrap barra-mundi in the leaves of the wild ginger plant and bake it in hot ashes. Flavour: Mild Small barramundi have a lighter flavour than larger fish.
Fishing technologies and knowledge. A lot of coastal Indigenous fishing is done on the beach or in shallow pools. Shellfish such as cockles and crabs can be dug up from under the sand. Rock pools work as natural tidal fish traps to ensure that when the tide goes out, fish are caught in the pools, ready to be speared.
The fish traps work by using stone walls to guide fish that are swimming upstream into the holding ponds where the Aboriginal People traditionally caught them with their bare hands, used their spears or blocked them in ponds to be caught later.
Aboriginal people ate a large variety of plant foods such as fruits, nuts, roots, vegetables, grasses and seeds, as well as different meats such as kangaroos, 'porcupine'7, emus, possums, goannas, turtles, shellfish and fish.
Marine mammals (seals, dugongs, dolphins and whales), sea-birds and possibly turtles were all eaten by Aboriginal people of coastal Sydney.
The most visible evidence of the interaction of Indigenous peoples and oysters are the shell middens dotted around the coast and built up over thousands of years as oysters were eaten and their shells added to the stack by travelling groups passing through.
The newly described species is a type of grouper and has been christened Epinephelus fuscomarginatus. Back in 2000, Queensland Museum fish expert Jeff Johnson was shown photographs of a mystery grouper by a fisherman.
From freshwater streams and rivers, people eat fish, freshwater prawns and crayfish (cherubin, yabbies, etc), turtles and eels.
The island became isolated by rising sea level; The group shrank in population (estimated at 5,000 when Europeans first contacted them); They began turning away from intricate practices such as deep sea fishing with boats due to risk factors; and. Turned to hunting/gathering on land.
Common animals that were hunted and eaten by Aboriginals included Kangaroos, Wild Turkeys, Possums, Emus, Anteaters, Lizards and Snakes.
Aboriginal hunters smeared their bodies with soil to disguise their smell. They used spears to kill most animals but relied on boomerangs to kill birds. SOURCE: Aboriginal Peoples of Australia, World Book, electronic book, p.
Nets. Nets were used to trap fish, ducks and some larger animals. They were made from rope and were dragged along shallow water for fish or hung across a creek between two trees to catch ducks.
The archaeological evidence for stone fish traps includes actual remains of dry stone wall enclosures, and short stone walls placed in openings of natural rock pools, some of which have been recorded and entered into the Heritage NSW AHIMS database.
Fishers who are Aboriginal persons are exempt from paying a recreational fishing fee. Removing barriers to accessing the resource is in keeping with recognition under the Act of the spiritual social and customary significance of fishing to Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal people removed most of such toxins from by leaching them out in water of shallow lakes ('soak pools'). Cycasin is soluble in water so it can be dissolved leached out from the fruit and into the water.
Aboriginal origins
Humans are thought to have migrated to Northern Australia from Asia using primitive boats. A current theory holds that those early migrants themselves came out of Africa about 70,000 years ago, which would make Aboriginal Australians the oldest population of humans living outside Africa.
The Meriam Peoples of Mer Island in the Torres Strait boil water or coconut milk in a bailer shell over a fire, with the large shell supported over the fire on stones. Alternatively, water is heated by adding hot stones into the vessel of water.
The Australian Aboriginals used the environment around them for generations, living off a diet high in protein, fibre, and micronutrients, and low in sugars. Much of the bush tucker eaten then is still available and eaten today.
In Central Australia, the Arrernte people call kangaroo Kere aherre, and remove the milk guts, and singe the hair in the fire before skinning it and placing the carcass in a hole in the ground that is covered with hot earth and coals. Before cooking the carcass, they remove both the tail.