THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL FISHING AND TRADE PRACTICES IN NORTHERN AUSTRALIA TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ABORIGINAL SEA COMPANY
Pre-colonisation, the saltwater people along the Northern Territory (NT) coastline and its islands managed their own fishing practices. Fishing regulations were originally part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, and dictated when and where people could fish, as well as management of trading and exporting activities.
For centuries, the Makassar people (also referred to as the Macassans) from the region of Sulawesi in Indonesia would venture into these coastal waters searching for Trepang (a sea cucumber that is still highly valued by South Asian communities). They would arrive in their ships, called Perahu, at the start of the dry season and return to Sulawesi before the wet season started, often allowing community members to return with them.
Access for the Macassans to sea and land for fishing and camping activities were negotiated with the various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the coastline. Trade was large, with evidence suggesting some 1,000 Macassans would travel each season to the NT’s shores and are reflected in various songs, language, paintings and traditions of the saltwater people.
In the early 1900’s, the establishment of foreign government structures and systems removed ownership and control of sea country away from Traditional Owners. During this period, regulations and tariffs were introduced that made the trepang becoming economically unviable, resulting in the last documented visit by a Perahu occurring in 1907. However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities always remained in contact with these waters, keeping their culture and knowledge alive within the family groups and trading with each other.
In 2008, almost 100 years after the last Perahu departed, the Blue Mud Bay native title decision rightly recognised this continual contact of Aboriginal Territorians and their custodianship of the sea and intertidal zones along it.
Custodianship and formal control of these designated waters were handed back to the coastal communities that fall under the jurisdictions of the Northern Land Council (NLC), Tiwi Land Council (TLC) and Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC).
The last 15 years have seen discussion and planning on the most effective means of managing these fisheries, helping communities to develop sustainable business models, and keeping culture alive and ongoing.
In 2019, the NT Seafood Council, the Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the NT, the NT Guided Fishing Industry Association and the NT Government (NTG) worked together to develop the Blue Mud Bay Implementation Action Plan. The Plan was signed-off by the NLC and NTG in July 2020, and in 2022 the Aboriginal Sea Company was established to oversee the transition of fisheries back to Aboriginal businesses and communities in the Territory.
Sea country continues to play an important role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture today, as it provides a constant food source for communities, as well as a place for families and community to gather and practice their traditions, ceremonies and cultural knowledge.
Fishing with nets and spears, Darwin, NT, c.1920. Photograph by Bernard Leslie Hornshaw.
AIATSIS Collection, from the aiatsis.gov.au website