Interview with Gary Kerr regarding the history of the Australian fishing industry (tape 1)
Date8 February 1990
Object numberANMS0871[157]
NameInterview
MediumCompact disk and tape
Copyright© Murdoch University
ClassificationsBorn digital media
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Murdoch University
DescriptionTape 1 of a recorded interview with Gary Kerr in Portland, Victoria, as part of a series titled 'History of the Australian Fishing Industry'. It contains information on Gary Kerr's entry into fishing, boat troubles, areas fished, crew training, sea sickness, couta boat clubs, ship types, Australian and New Zealand sail traders, Portland boats, the shark fishery, shark livers in war time, overfishing of sharks, barracouta fishing, Safcols' cannery, disappearance of inshore barracouta, trevally, tuna, beach seine salmon, scale fish, deepwater trawling, craft and craftsmen of Australian fishing, the Tasmanian trading, history of Portland, early Portland whaling, the Dusting family, arrival of railways, boats used, development of couta boats, orange roughy hot spots, crayfish in Portland, down turn in catches, scallop fishing, licence limitations, pot formula, increased technology, fisheries management, need for closures, dangers of over exploitation, fishermen's organisations, Fisheries Department, industry supervision and recreational versus professional fishing.HistoryGarry Kerr is an author and historian and a highly experienced fisherman, particularly in the rock lobster industry in
Victoria. In this interview he gives a comprehensive overview of many aspects of a variety of fisheries in his state, these include barracouta, shark, trevally, tuna, orange ruffy and scallop in addition to rock lobster.
Garry Kerr has a long and abiding interest in the fishing and trading vessels of the region and in those who sail in them. He has researched and published a series of accounts with the titles Australian and New Zealand Sail Traders,
Crafts and Craftsmen of Australian Fishing - 1870-1970, and the Tasmanian Trading Ketch.
Kerr is widely known and highly respected in the Australian fishing industry. His very comprehensive, perceptive contribution to this history of the Australian fishing industry is valuable indeed.
This recorded interview with Gary Kerr is part of a larger series produced as result of an oral history research project conducted by the Economics Department of Murdoch University and coordinated by Malcolm Tull. The project commissioned researchers in every Australian state to interview fishermen and others involved in catching, processing and marketing fish. Their research involved questions about daily work, personal memories of life in the Australian fishing industry as well as questions about the economics of the industry.SignificanceThis collection of recorded interviews is significant in providing a comprehensive record of commercial fishing from the 1950s to the 1990s across Australia.