Net-fishing in the Derwent

Abstract

During the months of November, December, and January, when the freshets caused by the winter's rains having subsided, and the tidal waters get low and brackish, shoals of fish commence running up from Storm Bay and the open coast into the estuary of the River Derwent, for the purpose of depositing spawn in the shallow landlocked bays, which abound from Rosny and Macquarie Point upwards. Of such fish, the most valuable are Flounders and Soles; the other being Bream, Mullet, Mackerel, Native Salmon, Kingfish, and a few species of comparatively minor importance. No exact season can be fixed for the spawning of any of these fish, the time of the deposition of the ova varying in different years from causes of which naturalists are at present ignorant ; and even in the same summer, many weeks often elapse between the deposition of the first and last spawn of each particular species. The parent fish having deposited the spawn, remain in the river, safe from the attack of their more formidable marine enemies, till their strength is recruited, and return to the sea with the first floods of winter.