Interview Richard Davidson regarding the history of the Australian fishing industry
Date13 March 1990
Object numberANMS0871[190]
NameInterview
MediumCompact disk and tape
Copyright© Murdoch University
ClassificationsBorn digital media
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Murdoch University
DescriptionTape one of a recorded interview with Richard Davidson in Lakes Entrance, Victoria, as part of a series titled 'History of the Australian Fishing Industry'. It contains information on Richard Davidson's early years and start in fishing, boat building, industry representative, crayfishing on Flinders Island, shark fishing, licence restrictions, need for research, types of licences, commonwealth control, fishermen's input into management, trawl management plan, number of shark boats, proposed quotas, catch cycles, Southern Fisheries Task Force, pressure from overseas, weather hazzards, king waves and boat building experience.HistoryRichard Davidson is a shark fisherman out at Lakes Entrance in Victoria. He was the industry representative earlier in his career. He also fished for crayfish off Flinders Island. Davidson has built several wooden vessels of which he is justly proud and one of which he now works himself. In addition to recording an outline of his own career, Mr Davidson discusses the problems facing the whole shark fishing industry in Victoria, and the techniques being employed in its management. He gives an insight into the various licences and their transferability, the proposed quota system and the operation of the "user pays" principle. He also comments on pressure on the industry from overseas interests. Towards the end of the interview, he recounts some of the hazards that confront fishermen in these waters, and finally he returns to the satisfaction of creative boatbuilding.
This recorded interview with Cecil Long 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.