The Ecology of the Tuggerah Lakes An Oral History · 2005-10-14 · This report presents the oral history of the Tuggerah Lakes which was obtained by interviewing local residents

The Ecology of the Tuggerah Lakes

An Oral History

CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra

Technical Report 40/98 December 1998

C S I R O L A N D a nd WAT E R

By Anthony Scott

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the residents of Wyong Shire who provided all of the informationcontained in this report. It was a pleasure to meet so many friendly people and to be given theopportunity of recording their memories of the Tuggerah Lakes. In many instances they also lentme their old photos, newspaper clippings and maps. Their enthusiasm and support for thisproject is something I will always remember. In particular I would like to thank ArthurClouten, Peter Clifford and Pat Clifford for the wealth of information they provided.

I would also like to thank Wyong Shire Council for their financial support and in particularGreg Walkerden, Danny Roberts and Sharon Cummins. Both their technical assistance andtheir patience at what seemed to be a never-ending task was greatly appreciated.

Also Geoff Sainty of Sainty & Associates for his project management and technicalcontributions to this project; and Kathryn Duchatel and Jane Roberts for reviewing the draft.

Photos were kindly provided by local residents , the Wyong Historical Society and the MitchellLibrary.

Addresses;

Anthony ScottCSIRO Land and WaterGPO Box 1666Canberra ACT 2601

Geoff SaintySainty and AssociatesPO Box 1219Potts Point, NSW 2011

Greg WalkerdenEnvironmental Systems ManagerWyong Shire CouncilPO Box 20Wyong NSW 2259

Disclaimer;The views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the CSIRO, Sainty & Associatesor Wyong Shire Council.

Front cover photo; Tuggerah Lakes, 1936. (photo; Mitchell Library)

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Abstract

The Tuggerah Lakes are on the Central Coast of NSW and consist of three interconnectedcoastal lagoons, Lake Munmorah, Budgewoi Lake and Tuggerah Lake. There has been rapidurban development over the last 20-30 years and this has resulted in a number of environmentalpressures being placed on the lakes’ ecology. One of the problems facing the managers of theTuggerah Lakes, is that there is very little scientific data available that provides an indication ofwhat the lakes were like in pre-development times.

The primary aim of this oral history study was to obtain reliable anecdotal evidence thatprovides a long term picture of ecological changes in the lakes. This has been achieved byinterviewing over 40 local residents whose association with the Tuggerah Lakes dates back toearly this century, when the impact of European settlement was still minimal.

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Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. 2ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. 3TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................. 4

1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 6

1.1 THE TUGGERAH LAKES .................................................................................................................. 61.2 RECENT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ................................................................................................... 61.3 ORAL HISTORY, A VALUABLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION................................................................. 71.4 COLLECTING THE ORAL HISTORY .................................................................................................... 71.5 WHO WAS INTERVIEWED................................................................................................................. 81.6 RESULTS OF THE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT ..................................................................................... 111.7 INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS....................................................................................................... 11

2 EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT .................................................. 12

3 CHANGES IN WEED GROWTH, SAND, MUD AND OOZE ..................................................... 15

3.1 STACK WEED IN THE 1920S AND EARLY 1930S.............................................................................. 153.2 STACK WEED RETURNS IN THE 1960S ............................................................................................ 173.3 HAULING NETS KEEP EASTERN SHORES FREE OF WEED.................................................................. 193.4 LITTLE WEED IN LAKE MUNMORAH UNTIL THE LATE 1960S.......................................................... 213.5 ALGAL GROWTH IN THE EARLY DAYS (1920S TO THE 1960S) ........................................................ 233.6 WEED AND ALGAE PROBLEMS CONTINUE FROM THE LATE 1960S UNTIL THE EARLY 1990S........... 253.7 LESS ALGAE AND SEAGRASS IN LAST FEW YEARS? ........................................................................ 293.8 THE SANDY BEACHES.................................................................................................................... 313.9 SOME AREAS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WEEDY.................................................................................... 363.10 WASHED UP WEED (WRACK) ALONG THE SHORELINE.................................................................... 383.11 SMELLS GET WORSE? .................................................................................................................... 423.12 SEAGRASS AND MACROALGAE – TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE?........................................................ 44

4. FISHING AND PRAWNING............................................................................................................ 46

4.1 FISHING IN THE 1920S - 1940S ...................................................................................................... 464.2 PRAWNING IN THE 1920S, 30S AND 40S ........................................................................................ 504.3 PRAWNING IN THE 1950S AND 60S ................................................................................................ 544.4 FISHING IN THE 1950S AND 60S..................................................................................................... 564.5 ‘THICKENING’ OF WATER CAUSED BY SCHOOLS OF FISH OR PRAWNS ............................................ 604.6 DECLINES IN PRAWNING IN LAST 20-30 YEARS.............................................................................. 614.7 FISHING IN THE LAST 20-30 YEARS................................................................................................ 664.8 LESS COMMON SPECIES; RED BREAM AND JEWFISH...................................................................... 714.9 FISH CATCHES IN LAKE MUNMORAH ............................................................................................ 734.10 PROBLEMS OF COMPARING FISH CATCHES OF 50 YEARS AGO WITH TODAY ................................... 75

5 OTHER MARINE SPECIES............................................................................................................ 77

5.1 JELLYFISH ..................................................................................................................................... 775.2 CRABS .......................................................................................................................................... 815.3 SHELLFISH .................................................................................................................................... 835.4 OTHER SPECIES ............................................................................................................................. 85

6. OPENING OF THE CHANNEL AT THE ENTRANCE ............................................................... 87

7 FLOODS........................................................................................................................ ..................... 92

8 CATCHMENT ISSUES .............................................................................................................. ...... 95

8.1 CHANGES IN LAND-USE IN THE UPPER CATCHMENT....................................................................... 958.2 SEWAGE POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE LAKES..................................................................... 978.3 URBAN STORMWATER AND INDUSTRIAL POLLUTANTS................................................................. 102

9 MUNMORAH POWER STATION ............................................................................................... 105

10 BIRD LIFE ................................................................................................................................... 112

11 A SECOND ENTRANCE............................................................................................................ 118

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12 DREDGING, SILTATION AND RECLAMATION ................................................................ 120

13 MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS..................................................................................................... 125

REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................... 126

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1 Introduction

1.1 The Tuggerah Lakes

The Tuggerah Lakes are on the Central Coast of NSW and consist of three interconnectedcoastal lagoons, Lake Munmorah, Budgewoi Lake and Tuggerah Lake (Figures 1a,1b). Thethree lakes cover a total area of 80 sq km and have a perimeter of 110 km. The largest of thelakes is Tuggerah Lake with an area of 54 sq km (IDC 1979). The lakes are shallow, the averagedepth being 1.9 metres. There is only limited interchange of water between the lakes and the seathrough a narrow channel at The Entrance, and hence tidal influence is negligible.

The total area of the catchment draining into the lakes is 670 square kilometres (IDC 1979).Freshwater flow into the lakes comes mainly from Wyong River, Ourimbah Creek and WallarahCreek.

The lakes contain a diversity of aquatic plants and animals which support the local fishingindustry and are also an important aesthetic and recreational resource.

1.2 Recent environmental issues

Forty years ago, the Tuggerah Lakes district consisted of a few small villages and towns whichcatered for the annual influx of visitors during the summer holidays. Over the last few decadesthese towns have been transformed into large urban centres, with an associated populationincrease from 13,000 in 1954 to over 100,000 in the 1990s. This rapid development has resultedin a number of environmental pressures on the lakes. In the late 1980s - early 1990s the lakesexperienced eutrophication, with macroalgae blooms being common within shallow near-shorehabitats.

Management actions to alleviate the excessive macroalgal growth resulted in the LakesRestoration Program. This Program was only partly successful, and a series of communitymeetings recently conducted by Wyong Shire Council indicated that for residents living alongthe foreshores some of the following issues were still of concern:

• Loss of amenity and general aesthetic problems associated with dead seagrass leaves

(seagrass wrack) and macroalgae along beaches and within shallow near-shore habitats;

• A general increase in seagrass distribution throughout the lakes;

• Loss of sandy beaches with an increase in organic ooze;

• A reduction in the abundance of fish and prawns;

• Unpleasant odours emanating from the lakes.

In contrast some members of the professional fishing fraternity believe that seagrasses have notincreased in abundance and that fish stocks have not declined.

It is clear that a better ecological understanding of the Tuggerah Lakes, and in particular how ithas changed since European settlement, is required.

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1.3 Oral history, a valuable source of information

The objective of this study was to collect information about the ecological changes that haveoccurred since European settlement of the Tuggerah Lakes in the early 19th century. Byproviding a better understanding of the ecological changes, the results of this study will assist inthe future management of the lakes and their catchment.

Since there were very few scientific studies of the Tuggerah Lakes prior to 1960, most of the keyinformation used to develop a long term picture of the Tuggerah Lakes was of a qualitativenature. The most valuable source of information available was the collective memories of localresidents (oral history). The older residents could provide information about the lakes when theimpact of European settlement was still minimal. (Further information has been collected fromhistorical documents and old newspapers and was used to corroborate the oral history. Thesewill be presented in separate reports.)

This report presents the oral history of the Tuggerah Lakes which was obtained byinterviewing local residents who have been associated with the lakes since early thiscentury. Such a study for the Tuggerah Lakes has not previously been undertaken.

1.4 Collecting the oral history

The method used for collecting the oral history is outlined below;

1) A list of key people to interview was obtained from the environmental officers at WyongShire Council, members of the local Pioneers Society, and by placing an article in the localnewspaper on the 6th May 1998. Further contacts were generated by a second newspaper articletwo weeks later. This provided sufficient names for the first two rounds of interviews. Furthernames were then obtained by asking each person interviewed, who else in the district might beable to provide useful information. This resulted in over 30 people being interviewed. Eachinterview averaged between 1½ and 3½ hours, although one interview took 4½ hours. Some ofthe retired professional fishermen provided a wealth of information and were interviewed two orthree times.

2) The article about the project which was placed in the local newspaper generated a lot ofinterest but unfortunately, due to time constraints, it became clear that not everyone who repliedcould be interviewed. Therefore, some people were sent a questionnaire or contacted by phone,and this generated further responses.

3) Each interview was recorded on cassette tape and then typed up as a transcript. Thetranscript was edited to remove any discussion which did not relate to the Tuggerah Lakes. Adraft copy of this transcript was then sent back to the individual for comment and approval. Insome instances this also provided the opportunity to provide further information.

4) Each person interviewed was also asked if they had any old photographs that might provide apicture of the lakes earlier this century. These photos were copied and returned.

5) In the early 1960s (probably late 1963), the Electricity Commission of NSW interviewed 5long standing residents of the area, asking for their knowledge on the weed history within thelakes. The transcripts to these interviews were included in a Government report in 1979 (IDC1979) but unfortunately the names of the residents were not included. These interviews providea good indication of the issues in the early 1960s, prior to the construction of the MunmorahPower Station, and provide valuable information on the extent of the weed growth in the 1930s,40s and 50s. Extracts from these interviews have been included in this report.

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1.5 Who was interviewed

Over 45 people were interviewed or replied to the questionnaire between May and August 1998.They ranged in age from 35 to 96 yrs old. Table 1 presents information on what each person’sassociation with the lakes has been;

Table 1 – Who was interviewed and their association with the lakesAlbert Asplet Visited regularly from 1950 onwards for weekends and holidays, and became a

resident at Budgewoi in 1982.Mick Asquith Born at Nelsons Bay in 1935, Mick came to Toukley in 1945 to live with the

Duncan’s (fishing family) at Toukley. When he finished school (about 14 yrs old) hestarted fishing in the lakes with the Duncans, and moved to Buff Point in 1963.Currently a professional fisherman, mostly in Munmorah and Budgewoi lakes.

Mick and JoyBaker

Mick was born in 1916 at Wyong and Joy was born in 1918 at Tuggerah. Both havespent all their life in the district. In the 1920s and early 30s, Mick would often fishin the lakes with his father.

Gordon Bennett Gordon’s father bought a small farm (8.5 acres) at Long Jetty in 1915 to growvegetables. Gordon was born in 1924 and the family moved up to Long Jetty to livepermanently in 1931.

Eileen Brown andGlen McKenzie

Eileen was born in 1912 and first visited Buff Point in the late 1920s when thefamily bought some blocks of land. In the late 1940s, they built a home at Buff Pointand in the 1960s moved to Tacoma for a short while. Now living in Wyoming, nearGosford. Glen was born at Wyong in 1935. His parents had the Post Office storeat Buff Point from 1932 until the early 60s.

John Brown Born in 1937 in Sydney, John first started coming up to the lakes in 1949. In 1954he started professional fishing and has been fishing ever since.

Gordon Browne Gordon’s family comes from Martinsville, and started visiting the Budgewoi area inthe early 1920s. In 1928 they bought a block of land on Budgewoi Creek and thefamily have been regular visitors ever since. Gordon was born in 1931 and moved toDoyalson in 1958. He has had a strong association with Munmorah and BudgewoiLakes all his life.

Bill Byles Bill was born in 1921. His grandfather and father were fishermen on these lakes.Bill started helping his father and brother with the hauling nets at the age of about 15or 16, and was a professional fisherman until he retired 12 years ago. His son wasalso a professional fisherman until a few years ago.

Pat Calphy Born in 1926, Pat came to the district in 1955 and got a job with the Wyong Council.Most of his work was with the Water and Sewerage Dept, and although he is nowretired, continues to work a couple of days a week for Council.

Ray Catterall A permanent resident of Budgewoi, Ray was born in 1930 in Sydney. His parentshad been camping on the shores of Lake Munmorah since the mid-1920s, and in the1930s they built one of the first ‘weekenders’ in Budgewoi. His father was amember of the Budgewoi Progress Association and became Chairman of the Trustwhich managed the Camping Reserve at Budgewoi.

Jack Chisholm Jack was born in 1910. His family went camping during the holidays at ToowoonBay from 1920 onwards and later built a weekender. Jack now lives permanently atBateau Bay.

Jean Clarkson Born in Sydney in 1923. Started visiting The Entrance/Long Jetty area for holidaysfrom 1938 onwards, and has been associated with the area ever since. Now living atGorokan.

Pat Clifford The Clifford’s are one of the original families of fishermen in the district. Pat’s greatgrandfather was fishing the Tuggerah Lakes in the 1880s. Pat was born in 1913 atTacoma, moved to the North Entrance as a child and started fishing as a teenager inthe 1920s. Like his father, he became a professional fisherman and then started up afish shop at the North Entrance. Now retired, Pat still keeps close contact with theprofessional fishermen.

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Table 1 continuedPeter Clifford Born in 1914 at Tacoma, Peter learnt to fish at an early age. Although he became a

teacher by profession, when he retired in 1976 he obtained a fishing license andassisted his cousin Pat. Peter finally stopped going out in the boats in April 1998 butstill assists the fishermen by helping to unmesh the fish.

Arthur CloutenMichael Clouten

Arthur was born at Tacoma in 1911 and started fishing at a very early age. He was aprofessional fishermen from the late 1920s until he retired in 1981. His grandson,Michael, took over his fishing business and has been a professional fisherman for thelast 17 years. The Cloutens have been fishing the Tuggerah Lakes and LakeMacquarie for many generations.

Gordon Denniss Born at Wyong in 1942, Gordon has always lived at Tacoma and is a professionalfishermen. The Denniss family have been fishing professionally in the TuggerahLakes for four generations.

Henry andElizabeth Denniss

Henry was born in 1911 at Tacoma, and moved to the North Entrance with hisfamily in the early 1920s. He started fishing with his father in the mid 1920s andcontinued working on the lakes until he retired. Elizabeth was born at Tacoma in1914 and is the sister of Pat Clifford. The Denniss family is one of the originalfishing families of the district.

Vivienne Donnelly First visited The Entrance in 1943-44 and now a permanent resident. A keen shellcollector.

Doug Duffy His family moved to The Entrance in about 1907 and Doug was born in 1928.Assisted his father with professional prawning in the 30s and 40s. Now living at theNorth Entrance.

Jim Ewing First came to the Tuggerah region about 30 years ago. Until he retired, Jim was ajournalist for the local newspaper, specialising in stories about fishing and the lakesin general.

Janeille Gates Janeille was born at Kurri Kurri (near Cessnock) in 1944. Her father’s family hadbeen coming to the Budgewoi area for the summer holidays since the early 1920s.The family moved permanently to Budgewoi in 1956.

Gordon andMargaret Gedling

The Gedlings built a holiday house on the waterfront at Gorokan in 1956 andbecame permanent residents in 1977.

Bill Hansen Resident of Toukley for 60 years. Bill went to school at Toukley in the early 1940sand has excellent recollections of fishing and hunting trips around the lakes.

Ray Holmes Born in 1935, Ray first started coming to the area with his family in 1942 forholidays. Ray was a keen recreational fisherman and is now a permanent resident atToukley.

John McPherson John was born in Wyong in 1948. He worked in the agricultural sector for 22 yearsbefore joining Wyong Council 12 yrs ago. He is currently the catchmentmanagement officer for the upper catchments of the Wyong Shire.

Irene and EricPearson

Irene was born in 1919 and moved to Toukley in 1948 for 4 years. She has visitedthe area regularly ever since. Eric was born in 1929 and has been a regular visitor tothe Tuggerah Lakes area since 1941.

Eric Percival In 1957 Eric bought a block of land at Budgewoi and built a small holiday house. In1967 he moved to Budgewoi permanently and got a job at the Munmorah PowerStation, which had just been built. He worked there until he retired in 1981.

Ernie Quinton Born in Sydney in 1920, Ernie spent many holidays at Long Jetty in the 1930s and1940s. He moved up to the Tuggerah Lakes in 1958. He started a boat hire businessat Canton Beach, and campaigned in the late 1970s to have weed removed from thebeach.

Alwyn Quoy The Quoy family bought a large area of land at Gorokan in 1923 and built a group ofholiday houses for rent. The family have always been regular visitors on weekendsand holidays, and Alwyn is now a permanent resident.

Ron and Ena Scott Ron and Ena have owned a holiday house on the waterfront at Toukley since 1975,and in the late 1980s became permanent residents.

Keith Southwell Born in Sydney in 1922. His parents bought land at Buff Point in 1922 and builttheir first house in 1926. Keith spent about 50% of his time at Buff Point until 1979when he moved there permanently. He is a retired engineer and is currently acommunity representative on the Estuary Management Committee for the TuggerahLakes.

Ruth Spence Her family used No. 43 Moss Ave, Toukley as a holiday house in the 1950s and thenmoved into it in 1958. Ruth has been living in Toukley since then.

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Table 1 continuedTrevor Spiers Born at Wyong in 1937 and grew up in Tacoma. Now lives at Chittaway Point.

Trevor was a professional fisherman from 1978 to 1982. His father was involvedwith the fishing industry all his life and so was his grandfather (on his mother’s side).Trevor joined Wyong Council 16 years ago and works in Health Services.

Arthur Sterrit Arthur was born in 1927, and first came to the lakes in 1933 with his family for aholiday. The following year his grandfather had a place built at Chittaway Point andthe family would spend most weekends at this house. Arthur moved permanently toChittaway Point in 1964 and to Lake Munmorah in 1984. Arthur has used the lakesextensively and his father had the first (recreational) sailing boat on Tuggerah Lakesin 1935.

Rita Struck Rita was born 1902 and first visited Toukley in 1925. The family visited Toukley(Canton Beach) on a regular basis in the late 1920s, 30s and 40s. Rita is now apermanent resident of Toukley.

Harry Taylor Born in 1913 in Sydney. From 1946 onwards spent all his holidays at The Entranceand then bought a block of land. Moved permanently to The Entrance in 1976.

Lil Tillinghast Lil first came up to the Tuggerah Lakes with her family in the 1920s. She is now apermanent resident.

Tom Wallace Born in 1947 in Newcastle, Tom’s family had Xmas holidays at Budgewoi between1950 and 1960. He moved to the district in 1971 and is currently working withWyong Shire Council as the design engineer for flooding.

Allan Whitham Born in 1925 in Sydney, Allan was a regular visitor to the lakes until he movedpermanently to Berkeley Vale in 1978. Has pursued a variety of jobs including oneyear as a professional fisherman. Currently involved in a local resident’s groupwhich is attempting to clean up the dead weed along the lake edge.

Clarrie Wynn Born at Catherine Hill Bay in 1917, Clarrie moved to Mannering Park and was aprofessional fisherman in both Lake Macquarie and Tuggerah Lakes until he retiredabout 8 years ago.

Table 2 – 1963 Electricity Commission interviews – details of the 5 residents interviewedResident 1 A permanent resident for 50 years (ie from 1913) and had campaigned since 1930

for a permanent sea entrance to be established.Resident 2 A permanent resident for 82 years (ie from 1881) and had lived and worked on the

lakes for all of his life. before him, his father had also worked on the lakes(presumably as fishermen).

Resident 3 A permanent resident for 65 years (ie from 1898). No other information provided.Resident 4 A permanent resident for 35 years (ie from 1928). No other information provided.Resident 5 A permanent resident for 60 years (ie from 1903). Family are among the oldest

residents.

Rita Struck was born in 1902. Rita and her family first visited Toukley in 1925 and returned on a regular basisthrough the 1930s and 40s. Rita is now a permanent resident of Toukley.

Bill Byles’ grandfather and father were fishermen on the lakes. Bill followed in their footsteps from the mid1930s until he retired 12 years ago.

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1.6 Results of the oral history project

In the following sections, a summary of the oral history of the Tuggerah Lakes is presented. Theinformation has been divided into a series of ecological topics and environmental issues. Quotesfrom the interviews are presented to provide examples of the type of information collected (thefull transcripts for each interview are presented separately).

1.7 Interpretation of resultsIn the absence of quantitative scientific data, oral history can provide an alternative source ofinformation. However, oral history has often been criticised by scientists for inaccuracy,subjectivity and selectivity. These short-comings can be minimised by careful design of both thedata collection and the analysis. In this sense the collection and interpretation of oral history isno different to any other form of scientific data.

The aim of collecting oral history is to re-construct the past, and in many ways is similar to adetective gathering evidence for a court case. It is unwise to rely on the recollections of just oneindividual, but if it is corroborated by many others then the evidence is much stronger. In termsof ecological history, the evidence can be further strengthened if it follows ‘scientific logic’ andcan also be supported by any historical documents that might also be available, such as diaries,letters or newspapers.

Sometimes observations through time appear to be in conflict, for example in the perceivedabundance of ‘weed’ in the Tuggerah Lakes. However, variability is a natural feature of theTuggerah Lakes and must be expected. One person might be recollecting a large quantity ofweed at one end of the lakes during one year, while another person might remember very littleweed but at a different location (spatial variability) and in the following year (temporalvariability). This can be confounded further by the difficulty many people have at recollectingthe exact year of a particular event or observation.

There can also be a difference in opinion depending on what one’s past experiences have been.For instance, an older local who experienced the large growth of stack weed in the 1920s mightthink that the weed growth in the 1970s was minimal. However, another person who firstarrived at the lakes in the 1940s when there was very little weed present, might describe theweed growth in the 1970s quite differently. Differences in perception, depending on one’s pastexperiences, was also evident when collecting information on the abundance of fish in the lakes.

In summary, when interpreting the anecdotal information collected, one cannot expect allmemories to be completely consistent due to different perceptions and also due to the largenatural variability of the lakes both over time and at different locations. However, despite this,there were many topics for which most people interviewed had similar recollections and a greatdeal of consistency was obtained. This has provided some valuable information about the pastecology of the Tuggerah Lakes and has enabled us to piece together a picture of what the lakeswere like earlier this century when the impact of European settlement was still minimal.

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2 European settlement and urban developmentThe first evidence of human habitation in the coastal environment of the Tuggerah Lakes isprovided by aboriginal middens, shell and other food remains and artefacts. In the coastalescarpment, rock engravings and painting sites provide further clues to the hunting and gatheringactivities of the pre-European population (King and Hodgson 1995). It has been estimated thatthe peak aboriginal population of the Gosford and Wyong Districts consisted of about 12 familygroups, with a maximum of 30 individuals in each group (Bennett 1968). A smallpox epidemicwas transmitted to the native population of the Sydney area by the First Fleet and this is thoughtto have spread through the Central Coast tribes as well. If so, the losses would have been heavyand the population reduced considerably, even before the first European settlers arrived in thedistrict.

The first European settlers moved into the Wyong district in the 1820s, initially for cattlegrazing and dairying. By the late 1820s logging commenced in the upper catchment, mainly forhigh value timbers such as cedar. However the rate of settlement was quite slow and in 1829there were only 89 settlers in the entire Brisbane Water District, which included the TuggerahLakes and Lake Macquarie (Clouten 1967).

Commercial fishing on the lakes became established in the second half of the 19th centuryinitially at Canton Beach (near Toukley) by a group of Chinese fishermen. During this time, alltimber and produce was transported to Sydney by boats which travelled regularly along thecoast, stopping at wharves such as Cabbage Tree Harbour near Norah Head.

Development of the region remained slow until the Sydney-Newcastle railway was opened in1889. The township of Wyong now became an important centre for transporting goods by railback to Sydney, including timber from local sawmills, and fish caught by the increasing numberof professional fishermen living at the mouth of the Wyong River (Tacoma).

The railway enabled relatively easy access from Sydney and Newcastle and in the early 20th

century a ferry service commenced which transported holiday makers from Wyong to guesthouses and camping sites around the Tuggerah Lakes, in particular, The Entrance. In the 1930sthe network of roads and bridges around the lakes steadily expanded and the ferry services weregradually replaced by buses and motor cars.

By 1954, however, the resident population of the Wyong Shire had only increased to 13,100 andthe region was still regarded as a holiday destination rather than an urban centre.

Urban development started to accelerate rapidly in the 1970s and 80s, and by 1990 thepopulation had risen to 102,000. This population growth is continuing through the 1990s withnew residential areas being developed around the western shores of both Budgewoi Lake andTuggerah Lake. Employment is now largely in manufacturing and wholesale industries, withtourism, coal mining and the retail industries also important. Many workers now commute toSydney, Newcastle and Gosford by train or via the Sydney-Newcastle freeway.

The Entrance in the early 20th centuryWhen the Great War started in 1914 there were only about 50 permanent residents at TheEntrance, but of course in the holiday season there were hundreds of them staying in the guesthouses and camping in tents along the channel. In 1900 the only house between The Entranceand Chittaway was at Killarney Vale on the heights overlooking the lake. It was built by TomDavis for one of his sons Abel who was managing the sawmill at Tumbi Creek. (memoirs ofRaymond Taylor a pioneer of The Entrance; Stinson, vol 1, p31, 1979).

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The Entrance in the 1920sIn the 1920s when we came here there were only 3 houses on North Entrance and mygrandmother owned the lot. And only 20 or so at The Entrance. At night time you’d only see afew lights around the lake, now there are lights everywhere. (Peter Clifford)

Toukley in the 1920s and 1930sWhen we first came here (in 1923), we came on horseback; on one side of the road where theHotel is now, was the Hargraves Dairy which was run by one of the Hargraves brothers and theboarding house was run by the other brother. There was no bridge and you had to come bylaunch from Wyong and get off at a little jetty. On the Gorokan side there was virtually nothingand all around Toukley there was just bush. (Alwyn Quoy)

Toukley in the 1930sToukley was no more than a few roughly built holiday shacks and fisherman huts along theCanton Beach area. (Gordon Browne)

Toukley in the 1940s and 1950sToukley wasn’t developed then, there was just a dirt road running up, initially we used to campin a boatshed down towards the bridge from here. Toukley was just bush and a few weekenders.The typical fibro, iron roofed houses started to come along gradually from the late 40s to thelate 50s. They built some shops in the early 50s, and there was a little theatre called the Civic,on Main Road opposite Elden St. I can recall as a child there was not a light around theseforeshores at night-time, but now there are lots of lights from all the new suburbs. I alsoremember there were plenty of rabbits and wallabies in the area. (Bill Hansen)

Budgewoi in the 1930s and 1940sIn the early years Budgewoi was very much an isolated fishing and holiday area with only asingle shop and several cottages. The holiday makers were mainly mining families fromNewcastle and some holiday-makers from Sydney. The area was practically deserted atordinary weekends. (Ray Catterall)

Buff Point in the 20sThe first building my parents built was a log cabin in about 1926, but was destroyed by a flood.They rebuilt another log cabin in about 1928 only to have it destroyed by a bush fire. To get toBuff Point we used to catch a steam train from Strathfield to Wyong (a dirty trip). We wouldwalk from Wyong Station to a wharf on Wyong River and board a large launch and travel up thelakes to a wharf at Matumba Rd, Buff Point. In the1920s and 1930s there were very few houses,you could almost count the houses on one hand. (Keith Southwell)

Gorokan and Charmhaven in the 20s and 30sOn the other side of Ocean View Rd was all bush, it was bush all the way through towardsWallarah Creek. Where Charmhaven is today was all bush. I remember a bushfire throughthere that came right up to our house. I think I was about ten at the time. We used to go onsafari through the bush there, with a stick in the hand, in case of snakes. (Alwyn Quoy)

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Tourism and residential developmentTourism and residential development in the area accelerated with the construction of the roadbridge over the Hawkesbury and has been very much escalated by the electrification of the rail,Sydney to Newcastle, and the construction of the tollway and now freeway. With thisdevelopment, and a one hour travelling time to Sydney’s North Shore, it is fair to call the areaan outer suburb of Sydney. (Ray Catterall)

Urban developmentThe lake foreshores are wall to wall houses, you used to be able to go along the bottom ofTuggerah Lake and you would hardly see a house, you used to only see little fibro orweatherboard fishing huts, but now it is just wall to wall houses. (John McPherson)

Increased population puts pressure on the lakesWhen I grew up there were some 9000 people in the Shire, now there is something like 130,000people, and it is the second highest growth rate in NSW. So of course the lake system is underpressure. (John McPherson)

km0 5Towns and villages

BerkeleyVale

Tumbi Umbi Ck

WyongRiver

Tacoma

Wyong

Ourimbah Ck

Killarney

Saltwater Ck

Pipeclay Pt

Wyongah

Kanwal

BottomLake

Chittaway Pt

"The Sandhills"

Pelican Is.

"Deep Dig"Rocky Point

Tuggerawong

LongJetty

The Entrance

Chinamans Beach

Gorokan

The EntranceNorth

sand bar (Dec 41)

Terilbah Is.

Wallarah Ck

Green PtBuff Pt

Middle Lake

Wallarah Pt.

Lakeside

Colongra Ck

Canton Beach

Toukley

Norahville

Bungaree Norah"Shithole"

"Cedar Wharf"

Norah Head"Eely"

ColongraBay

Top Lake

Budgewoi

Elizabeth Bay

Figure 1a: Tuggerah Lakes in 1941

0 5 km Towns and suburbs

TacomaWyong

WyongRiver

Ourimbah Ck

BerkeleyVale

KillarneyVale

Tumbi Umbi Ck

Gorokan

Charmhaven

Sydney-N

ewcastl

e Freeway

TUGGERAHLAKE

Chittaway Pt

Wyongah

Pipeclay Pt

LongJetty

The Entrance

Wallarah CkSan Remo

Blue Haven

Doyalson

The EntranceNorth

Rocky Point

TuggerawongNorah Head

Buff PtGreen Pt

BUDGEWOILAKE

Toukley

Canton Beach

Noraville

Colongra Lake Colongra

BayElizabethBay

MunmorahPower Station

LAKEMUNMORAH

Budgewoi

Figure 1b. Tuggerah Lakes in 1998

Newcastle

Sydney

Tuggerah Lakes

N

Gordon Bennett was born in 1924 and the family moved up to Long Jetty in 1931. His father owned a smallfarm at Long Jetty.

View of Tuggerah Lakes from Killarney in Sept 1927 (Mitchell Library).

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3 Changes in weed growth, sand, mud and ooze

3.1 Stack weed in the 1920s and early 1930s

A number of the older people interviewed reported that Budgewoi Lake was covered in largequantities of stack weed (Ruppia megacarpa) during the 1920s and early 1930s. The stack weedgrew in the deeper parts of the lake and came right up to the surface, reaching lengths of up 3metres. Narrow channels were kept clean of weed that lead from Wallarah Point (whereToukley bridge is now) towards Buff Point, and also around to the Toukley wharf.

The southern part of Tuggerah Lake (south of Chittaway Point) also had large quantities of stackweed during this period. However, the eastern shore of Tuggerah Lake, from about Long Jettynorth to Canton Beach was clean and sandy during this time.

During the late 1930s and early 1940s the stack weed in Budgewoi and Tuggerah Lakes isreported to have died off. One fisherman believed that the closure of the channel at TheEntrance for a number of years in the late 1930s was the cause. By the mid 1940s all three lakeshad little stack weed or ribbon weed (Zostera capricorni).

Unlike the other two lakes, Lake Munmorah did not experience a growth of stack weed in the1920s and 30s, and all reports indicate that the lake only contained small patches of ribbonweed.

Weed in the 1920sThe main lake was very weedy on the western side but the eastern side had clear sand flats,where prawning was done..... The Middle Lake, now known as Budgewoi, was a very weedy lake...... The Top Lake, known as Munmorah Lake, was clear of weed. (Arthur Clouten)

The weed in the 1920s and early 30sWhen I started as a child, the whole of Middle Lake was solid weed, you couldn’t get through itin a boat. There was a channel around to the jetty at Toukley and another through the middle ofthe lake and the rest was solid weed. (Pat Clifford)

Stack weed in the 1920s but Lake Munmorah cleanHenry: There was also stack weed at one time, lots of it about.Interviewer: Where would you find the stack weed, in deeper water, or shallow?Henry: At the start of the ‘step’ and further out. It grows to the top of the water, it always got

sunburnt on the top and it died. Then another batch would come under it again. At onetime, from Chittaway Point across onto that point (pointing on map towards TheEntrance), and down into Tumbi you couldn’t get a boat down in there for weed. Thewhole of that lake down there, and at the same time it happened in Budgewoi. I don’tknow when, a long time ago. ... There was never a real lot in the Top Lake. That wasa very clean lake. The weed was so bad here at one period of time the only place youcould use a hauling net was up in that Top Lake. Don't remember the date but I think Iwas still going to school. (Henry Denniss)

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Stack weed in Budgewoi Lake in the 1930s In Middle Lake, in the early 30s it was full of stack weed. There were only certain areas whereyou could go through with boats and it was growing up to the surface of the water, we did haulsin there and we used to get big catches of blackfish, 70-80 boxes of blackfish, the fish used to getin there in the winter time because the weed seemed to generate warmth. That weed went fromtop to bottom, you used to have to pick out different canals, you couldn’t just go anywhere onthe lake, and that was stack weed. It gradually died out in the 40s. .... It was all up aroundCharmhaven and right through the centre of the lake, you had to see it to believe it. The bigsand (on the east side of Middle Lake) it never had weed on it of course. (Clarrie Wynn)

Weed in lakes dies in late 1930s and early 1940s when channel blocked It was in 1938 that the entrance to the sea was blocked off. The weed in the lakes are salt waterweeds. Not only did the weed die but all the shell life died too. .. The water became too freshand killed the weed and all the millions of shellfish. The last bit of weed in the lake was January1941. (Arthur Clouten)

There was always weed in some areasThe Lakes have always had some weed, even in my father's time - but this was generallyconfined to the shallows on the southern and western shores of the bottom and centre lakes -especially the centre where I have seen these areas very heavily infested indeed. (Resident since1891 interviewed in 1963)

Figure 2: Sketch map of ‘weed’ in Tuggerah Lakes in 1926-1936. (Drawn by Arthur Clouten in1950s)

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3.2 Stack weed returns in the 1960s

During the 1940s there appears to have been little weed growth. The recollections of residentsor holiday makers visiting the area after the war, are of weed-free lakes with sandy foreshores.

It wasn’t until the early 1950s that fishermen reported substantial areas of ‘weed’ (seagrass andalgae) beginning to appear again. By the early 1960s there were large areas covered in stackweed, in particular Budgewoi Lake and the south-western parts of Tuggerah Lake. The weedbecame so prolific in the early 1960s that using hauling nets became difficult. In the mid 1960sthe stack weed appears to have died off again.

All accounts of Lake Munmorah during this period are of a weed-free lake apart from somesmall patches of ribbon weed.

No weed in 1940s In 1938 the entrance to the sea blocked. So no sea water, and all weed and shell life died by1941. The lake foreshore became hard sand, fish became very scarce and fishermen had tocatch under-size fish to exist or go to other estuaries. The weed and shell life started to return in1953 and by 1955 some silt appeared and there were large catches of fish and prawns. ... Theweed was in all shallow areas of the lakes which was under 8 feet deep except where prawnhauling was being done by professional fishermen. (Arthur Clouten)

Weed eased in late 1930sInterviewer: If weed infestation eased at any period can you recall the date? and reason?Resident 1; Only after high flood periods. Action of flood waters in uprooting and dispersing

large quantities of the weed. At Entrance in 1939 horse and scoop opened the channeland weed at Killarney eased considerably. (resident since 1913, interviewed in 1963)

Weed fluctuations in 1950s and 1960sMy impression is that the weed started to spread and grew beginning in 1953 until 1957/1958when it appeared to stabilise and stand still. Then from 1960 till present (1963) very rapidgrowth and development took place. (Resident since 1928, interviewed in 1963)

Stack weed in the early 1960s The bloke I used to work with, Jobbo (Herb Jobson), who was Pop’s brother in-law, he told methat in one year, some time in the 60s, that the whole southern part of Tuggerah Lake was stackweed. The deepest part of that area is 9 foot, but much of it is shallower, about 6 foot deep, sothe weed can grow there. (Michael Clouten)

Stack weed in the early 1960s ....go back to Jack Trifford’s time, he was the Fisheries inspector at the time, and I was in mymid twenties (approx 1962), the weed was really thick in the south part of the (bottom) lake.....At the same time we had a job getting into Middle Lake because of all the weed, it was chokedwith stack weed. (John Brown)

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Stack weed returns to Tuggerah Lake and Budgewoi Lake From 1939-54 ...there was a little bit of ribbon weed but no stack weed. And that is when therewere no fish and prawns in the lake too. In 1958 there was stack weed in the lake again. By1962 .....the stack weed was right across from Chittaway, and Budgewoi was full of stack weedtoo. The stack weed was to the top of the water and you could not use a hauling net so we useda meshing net in between the weed. But the Top Lake was bare at that time. (Arthur Clouten)

Stack weed along the western side of Budgewoi Lake I couldn’t get to the Toukley Co-op from over that part of the lake (Charmhaven) by water inthe early 60s, there was stack weed everywhere. That cleared up when the power house started.(Mick Asquith)

Stack weed in the early 60s Back a fair while, in Middle Lake you had trouble steering a boat across it, the whole lot of ithad weed in it, the same down at Tumbi, from Chittaway Point across to Saltwater Creek wasweed. The same at Wyong Bay, it was Stack weed. It would grow in water up to about 8 feetdeep. Once you got into deeper water, 10 feet or more, you wouldn’t get the weed. That waswhen dad was working with me. That would have been 30 years ago or more, it was before thePower Station started. I don’t think there was any in Top Lake though. (Bill Byles)

Weed comes and goes Generally speaking the Lakes have always had weed trouble, particularly Budgewoi and SouthTuggerah areas. Prior to 1942 the infestation was severe and after 1942 it eased considerablyuntil about 1956, then seemed to develop particularly the last 2 or 3 years ago (the early 1960s).(Resident since 1898 interviewed in 1963)

Fishing Inspector’s comments The Electricity Commission survey (of 1963) is collaborated by discussion with the FisheriesInspector stationed at Lake Macquarie between 1949-1952 and then at Tuggerah Lakes from1956-1965. He has talked with the old professional fishermen of the Lakes who claim the growthof stack weed (Ruppia) in the twenties was so severe it hampered fishing and movement ofboats on the Lakes. The Inspector also recalls the decline in weed cover of the late forties suchthat by the mid fifties Canton Beach was clean sand. Following this there was a rapid growthof weeds culminating in the severe problem of 1960-1962. (extract from the InterdepartmentalReport on the Tuggerah Lakes, published in 1979)

Figure 3: Sketch map of ‘weed’ in Tuggerah Lakes in 1938-1954. (Drawn by Arthur Clouten in 1950s)

Figure 4: Sketch map of ‘weed’ in Tuggerah Lakes in 1958. (Drawn by Arthur Clouten)

Figure 5: Sketch map of ‘weed’ in Tuggerah Lakes in 1962. (Drawn by Arthur Clouten)

Figure 6: Sketch map of Budgewoi and Munmorah Lakes in the 1950s (Drawn by Gordon Browne in 1998)

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3.3 Hauling nets keep eastern shores free of weed

The eastern shores of Tuggerah Lakes, from Long Jetty right up to Canton Beach remained clearof weed until the 1960s and many people believe that this was due to the continuous hauling ofprawning nets across the shallow near-shore areas during the summer months. Hauling netswere used for prawning by professional fishermen until about 1962 when running nets wereintroduced, and a few years later snigger trawling. Amateur prawners also used small 20ft nets.

The hauling nets would ‘rake up’ any loose weed along the shorelines. There are also reportsthat early this century the fishermen used scythes to remove weed beds that were interfering withthe hauling of nets.

Hauling of nets kept the shallows free of weed You run your net out and then you dragged it in slow, you did that up to 25 times a night so noweeds would grow there. And any drift weed that comes across, you rake it up and when it driesyou put a match to it. Up past North Entrance, that is another place we prawned and we keptthat all the time clean. We’d haul the nets up to 20 times a night, and half a dozen boats wouldbe working that. Canton Beach was the same, we used to haul it, and it was all clear. (ArthurClouten)

Prawn nets keep eastern side of lake cleanInterviewer; Pat, in the 30s and 40s what do you remember Canton Beach being like, was it

sandy or weedy or what?Pat; It was sandy, It was sand from about Saltwater Creek and right up to Canton Beach, you’d

hardly see a clump of weed all along there.Interviewer; When did you see weed start to grow along there?John; Well it would have probably been the early 60s, when the shore prawning was finished.

A fellow from Illawarra introduced the running net and from then on everyone usedrunning nets for prawning. We had to use this new type of net because of the weedalong the shore. (Pat Clifford and John Brown)

Hauling reduces weed growth When Fisheries closed Top and Middle Lake to hauling, that meant they weren’t been cleanedup regularly and the weed started to grow. (Trevor Spiers)

Prawn hauling keeps shores clean of weed My dad got the big catches of prawns with a prawn hauling net from the shore, a net of 6 stripsof 25 yards each (150 yards total). And that type of net used to keep the shallows clean ofweed. ..... This hauling effect would be occurring each prawning season all along the easternshore of Tuggerah Lake. ....These days there is no cleaning effect because they are not haulingthe net across the shallows. (Trevor Spiers)

Keeping the eastern shore clean for hauling nets When we started prawning it was all done off the shore, you set up on a dig, and you had about200 yards of foreshore to land your net on (other prawners would use the digs either side ofyou), and one of the things that had to be done, was to be sure there was no glass bottles orsticks etc on the shore that might rip the net. You pulled your nets on the bank in those days,The foreshore had to be clean. In those days, when I was overdue sometimes, my wife, shewould wheel the babies in a pram along the foreshore from here, (North Entrance), up pastClifford’s place, right up to the far point you can see from the front here (up to Deep Dig as they

20

call it), and she could wheel a pram all the way, it was that hard and clean. She wouldn’t do sonow. (Henry Denniss)

Using a scythe to remove weed My grandfather used to use a scythe to remove any weed that was in the way of the net becausethe fish could lay under the weed, and the net would go over the top. (Elizabeth Denniss)

Using scythes to clear weed I’ve heard the old fishermen say that they used to go in with scythes, if there was weed in theway of them landing their net they would cut it out. (John Brown)

Clearing the weed with the scythe ...when you were coming ashore with the net and there was a heap of weed in the way youwould use the scythe on that weed to get it out of the way and clear any obstacle to make a clearlanding. (Peter Clifford)

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3.4 Little weed in Lake Munmorah until the late 1960sAs mentioned previously, all reports of Lake Munmorah prior to the late 1960s indicate thatthere had only ever been a few small patches of weed. However in the late 1960s or early 1970sthis appears to have changed, and both residents and fishermen started reporting weed inlocations where it had never been observed previously. Some people believe that the weedstarted to appear after the Power Station started operating in 1967 while others associate theincreased weed growth with urban development and the associated sewage pollution from septictanks that was seeping into the lake in the 1960s and 70s.

Lake Munmorah free of weed in early 60sInterviewer; Why do you suppose Munmorah is so relatively free of weed?Resident 3; Munmorah always was a clean lake as far as I can remember. Water very fresh -

not much mud or silt on bottom - relatively deep water (say 12 - 15 ft.). Very littlephosphorescence in water. (Resident since 1898, interviewed in 1963)

Weedbeds in Lake Munmorah Regarding weed patches, there was, in the 1930s, a shallow weeded area at the south-east endof Lake Munmorah and also in the bay leading into Colongra Creek. (Ray Catterall)

Colongra Bay in the 1940s The whole of Colongra Bay was very shallow with a clean sandy bottom out from the creek forabout two hundred metres. As the water deepened, the bottom was covered with short weedtypes and various forms of shellfish on which bream fed. (Gordon Browne)

Absence of weed in Lake Munmorah in the 1940s I can’t remember ever pulling up against a weed on Lake Munmorah. That means that alongthe bank it must have been sandy. (Doug Duffy)

Munmorah free of weed The Top Lake was always a clean lake, you didn’t see much weed, but the weed has grown intoit now. I think the weed grows when you get soil, and a lot of soil has been washed into all theseareas, so I think there is more weed now. (Clarrie Wynn)

Lake Munmorah used to be free of weed Munmorah, it changed dramatically when the power station went in. That was because of thewarmer water. Top lake was always the cleanest but when the power station started Munmorahwarmed up by about 4 degrees and the weed and slime grew. (Trevor Spiers)

Lake Munmorah- clear water and sand made good swimming Let me stress that in those early years, pre-powerhouse, we could swim practically anywhere inthe lakes in clear water with sandy bottoms, except on the northern rocky shore of LakeMunmorah where the beach was often quite pebbly, but still clear water and good swimming.(Ray Catterall)

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No weed in Top Lake There was no weed in the Top Lake either, but now there is weed there too even on the easternside of the lake which I didn’t think would be possible. We used to spend the winter time haulingup there and you wouldn’t see a blade of weed, it was all beautiful and sandy and clean. (BillByles)

Beautiful white sand 30 years ago Where I live now (south-west side of Lake Munmorah) was all beautiful white sand, 30 yearsago. Lake Munmorah was beautiful clear water. Because there wasn’t much development herethen. (Arthur Sterrit)

Lake Munmorah in the 1940s It was a beautiful lake, clean, sandy shores. Near the camping ground it was all nice whitesand. You wouldn’t have got a bucket full of weed from around the whole lake. It was all sandright the way round, except the western side which was gravel. There is more weed and mudnow. As kids we used to swim in there but you wouldn’t swim there now. (Mick Asquith)

Lake Munmorah - mud, sand and weed At that time (late 1950s) the lakes were still nice and clean and the sand was white. Butgradually there was more weed and the sand wasn’t as good. In the 60s it was still OK, it hashappened since then. My eldest child was born in 1964 and prior to them going to school it wasstill OK. (Janeille Gates)

Lake Munmorah - clean sandy shores in 1950s and 1960s I remember the shore of lake Munmorah where we camped was clean sand with no weed. Eachyear we would also walk along the shore up to Elizabeth Bay and the shore along here was alsosandy with very little weed, and with the occasional fallen paperbark tree lying in the water.You could see rutile in the sand . (Tom Wallace)

Sandy areas around Lake Munmorah ....it was always nice sand (pointing to the east side of Top Lake on a map). The western sidewas clear too but it is a bit rocky, and then up around the north end it was good water. AroundElizabeth Bay, that was all beautiful shore too, but they took a lot of gravel out of Gravelly whenthey were doing the main roads, they took all the shore away there, that was during or just afterthe war. So it was all sand at the top end of Munmorah, and sandy or rocky on the western side.(Clarrie Wynn)

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3.5 Algal growth in the early days (1920s to the 1960s)

There are annual Fisheries reports from the late 19th century that mention ‘slime’ and ‘slimyweed’ collecting on fishing nets. These are terms used by fishermen to describe macroalgae.When interviewed, the retired fishermen reported that ‘wool’ ( a term used to describe mats offilamentous algae) has always been present, and also commented on a slime that floats up to thesurface in spring when the water warms up.

In the early 1960s, one professional fishermen recorded that the weed and slime had become sobad that he could no longer use the hauling net.

These early reports indicate that macroalgae has always been present and is a natural (andimportant) part of the lake ecology. However, the quantity of ‘wool’ or ‘slime’ appears to havevaried considerably with the season and also from year to year. For instance, there were periods(such as the 1940s) when there was very little macroalgae (or seagrass), and other periods (suchas the early 1960s) when it was more plentiful.

A point worth noting is that most of the early reports from the 1920s and 1930s describe ‘wool’or ‘slime’ growing in the deeper parts of the lake, and not so much along the shallow lake edges,which is where the more recent algal blooms of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s have occurred.

Slimes and algae In the winter time you would always get a slime come up in the cold water, they used to call itover at Tuggerah, wool , and it would take the warm water to dissolve it. We just called it slimein Lake Macquarie. You would pick it up in the net so I think it was through the water, but thatwas only during the winter months. (Clarrie Wynn)

Red wool There is a sort of weed that we call Red wool it comes in the spring or towards the latter endof winter. And then you can’t haul a net, you can’t do anything. It grows on the bottom. It doesnot float. It comes periodically, some years it is there other years it isn’t. I remember in the1930s we couldn't get the fish in the nets up because there was so much of the stuff. (PatClifford)

‘slime wool’ in 1960 Last year (1960) when I started to use the hauling net in November the slime wool was so badsome days the net would have to be picked up broken in half. But when a landing could be madea good quantity of bream could be had. By December we had to put this net away and goprawning because there was only a couple of places in the lake where a net could be hauled in.Shortly after that, about February, those two places got too bad and now for several months nohauling nets could be hauled and this coming year none may be done so a big drop can beexpected. All fishermen will have to go meshing or prawning if there is any prawns to haul left.(Arthur Clouten’s diary, 1961)

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Algae - red wool and green weedInterviewer: Have you ever seen a red coloured algae? Red wool?Henry: That grows on the bottom of the lakes. It is not slimy it is very fine. We often pulled a

bit of it in. It never was a nuisance though.Interviewer: What is green weed?Elizabeth: When the logs fall in the lake and rocks, well it will grow on that. Blackfish

fisherman use it as bait. Down here at the mouth of the entrance channel there is greenweed on them rocks, the black fish get there. The fishermen pull them in by the dozens.It grows on logs or rocks around the edges. I don’t think it ever goes into the middle ofthe lake. (Elizabeth and Henry Denniss)

Red wool In the twenties if your hauler became full of red wool that was it - you had to pick it up andspread it out to dry; then the wool could be shaken and thrashed out. It hasn’t been like that foryears. (Peter Clifford)

Types of Slime Once you used to get that red wool and that was really good for fish, now they are getting thatgreyish slime that comes late in winter, then in the hot weather it will rise and you see it inbundles on top of the water, then the winds come and wash it into shore. It isn’t very good forthe fish, they don’t seem to like it and you can’t work in it. There was always some slime, itwould come and go over the years. (Bill Byles)

Types of algaeThere are a few types that you can get. There is an algae which we call slime, and you get thatstuff as it starts to get warmer, and it comes to the surface and then blows to shore. We havealways seen that. It might only be there for a month or two. There is another one that looks likea couch grass and there is another one called red wool but it is not there every year. The worstplace for that is around Lakedge Ave in the Berkeley Vale - Killarney Vale area. Red wool hasalways been about. (Trevor Spiers)

Brown slime (algae)Sometimes a brown slime grows on the ribbon weed and the bottom of the lake. It looks likebrown hair waving in the water and when lifted out of the water looks like a very thin brownsilk. It is impossible to work a net if it is present in any quantity as you can't thrash it out, and ifthe net is full of it you would find it taxing to lift the net into the boat. It grows in the coldweather i.e. winter and cleans up slowly as the water warms up. Most other algae only occursalong the shore or in very shallow water. (Peter Clifford)

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3.6 Weed and algae problems continue from the late 1960suntil the early 1990s

In the late 1960s and 1970s, people started to report that ‘weed’ (ribbon weed and macroalgae)was growing in shallow areas where they remembered it as always being sandy and free of weed.In particular, the ‘weed’ started to grow along the eastern shores of Tuggerah Lakes, right up toCanton Beach, and also in Lake Munmorah.

Ernie Quinton, a boat hire operator, led a community campaign to remove large amounts ofmacroalgae from Canton Beach in 1978.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were reports of large amounts of ‘slime’, ‘fungus’ ormats of algae appearing in shallow water along the edges of the lakes.

The growth of macroalgae along the edges of the lakes coincided with the appearance of badsmells and a black ‘ooze’ where there was once sandy beaches.

Although there are numerous reports of increased quantities of seagrass and macroalgae alongthe shallow edges of the lakes, some of the professional fishermen believe there has been adecline in seagrass beds in the deeper parts of Tuggerah and Budgewoi Lakes. In particularthere appears to have been a decline in the amount of stack weed, particularly since the early1960s when large areas of these two lakes were covered in this particular seagrass.

Canton Beach becomes weedy On the eastern side of the lake it was white sand, right along that shore. Canton Beach wasalways beautiful white sand. There was always a bit of weed round the corner and down thelake from the camping area.. But what ruined Canton Beach was the camping area and all theseptic systems. That fine green weed that would roll up in big clumps started to appear. Canton beach was still sandy when our daughter Cheryl was a big child and she’s only 46 now.That was a beautiful sandy beach and everyone would have picnics there on Sundays. (BillByles and his wife)

Slime and weed appear in Lake Munmorah You just see scunge now, that’s all you see. ... it is like a fungus more than anything else. Iused to have a sandy beach out my back door but now the water’s edge has slime in it and thereis thick mud. (Arthur Sterrit)

Eastern side of Tuggerah Lake - weed appears The water was clear enough to lean over the side and see down to the bottom (about 0.5 to 1metre deep), and there was perfectly clean sand with no weed and he (Doug’s father) could seethe prawns well enough to determine what sort of haul it would be and which way the prawnswere travelling. All the area from the sandhill up to Deep Dig (which is halfway up to CantonBeach) was beautiful sand. This was in the 30s and up to the mid 40s. The clear water andclean sand extended back towards Terilbah Island. Some years later, I went for a walk up there,probably the early 60s and I was amazed to see a woolly type of weed there. It had a greenyyellow colour and I hadn’t seen it before. (Doug Duffy)

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Power station effects on weed growth The warmer water had a big influence on weed growth on the once clear sandflats. I doubt ifthere is one sandflat left clear of heavy weed growth. The whiting grounds off Wallarah Creekare covered with dense weeds. The same applies to what once was the beautiful sandy area thatstretched from the creek along the southern and eastern shores of Lake Munmorah. ColongraBay is choked with weed growth where once it was an endless sandy bottom. (Gordon Browne)

Weed growth – caused by urban development There has certainly been an increase in the amount of weed in the lake since the 50s and 60s.We notice the increase at the areas where we used to go prawning a lot. It would be due to theshallow warm water and the input of nutrients. There used to be sand along the foreshores inmany places, such as along Tuggerawong. The weed is probably caused by the urbandevelopment and all the runoff, and in particular the septic systems that people used to have.(John McPherson)

Algae and slime in Budgewoi Lake There used to be green slime along the edge of the shore where seepage from septic tanks gotinto the lake, but this improved once the sewer was put on. There was also a lot of slime andalgae in the lake in the early 90s, it was very bad then. (Albert Asplet)

Algae in the 1980s I know they were getting a lot of red wool before I started here (in 1980) because they all usedto speak of it. The best ones to talk about the red wool would be the haulers, because they goout and haul it in and know where it is. In the eighties we used to get a lot of it. Sometimes youwould nearly have to stop work for it, because you couldn’t get your net in. (Michael Clouten)

Increase in weed due to urban pollution The weed used to run in a natural cycle, dad always said this. Many years ago there was largeamounts of weed in the lake, then gradually over a period of time it died off, and the easternshore would be nice and clean, and then the weed would gradually build up again. But with theamount of population we now have and the pressure on the lake it isn’t going in a natural cycle,you can go out there now, and at places I used to fish years ago, you can’t go there any more,there is too much weed. In some places the weed has got to a stage where the water has becomestagnant, there is no flow, The weed is bad everywhere now. (Trevor Spiers)

Different type of weed appears in the 70s The ribbon weed to me is very acceptable, the garfish, mullet and blackfish all liked it. It issome of the other weeds that I thought were an uninvited guest, the ones that form a thick mat ofweed. There was always some ribbon weed washed up on shore, but that seemed to be a naturalthing. But the problems seemed to have occurred when weed started to grow in places that Iremember as a kid had a clear sandy bottom. We used to have a swim in beautiful clear waterbut about 20 years ago, weed had covered a lot of this area (near Peel St in Toukley) . (BillHansen)

Increase in ribbon weed not stack weedInterviewer; What type of weed is the problem?Trevor; It is ribbon weed. Stack weed comes and goes, but the increases I have seen is in

ribbon weed. In the bay between Chittaway and Wyong rivers, it used to only be at thepoint between the shallow water and ‘the step’ where it got deeper. But now it iseverywhere in the bay even in the very shallow water. It is the same in most of the bays.All along the eastern shore from the North Entrance to Canton Beach used to bebeautiful sand years ago, now you have ribbon weed everywhere. At Chittaway all the

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white sand is still there underneath, but on top of it is large amounts of rotting ribbonweed, that is what the stink comes from. (Trevor Spiers)

More weed along eastern shore and at Canton BeachInterviewer; Back in the late 40s and early 50s what was Canton Beach like in terms of sand

and mud?John; Yes it was very sandy, it was sandy all along the eastern side of the lake there, along

Eely. I used to work with one of Pat’s cousins along there with a small hauler. We’dwork from the edge of the deep water back to shore, and it was very clean then. Itwasn’t many years after that when the weed took over and it has been weedy ever since.Canton Beach has cleaned up quite a lot recently but the eastern shore hasn’t.

Interviewer; What type of weed was it that has increased?John; Mainly ribbon weed. (John Brown)

Weed increases in the 1970sInterviewer; Did you slowly see a growth of weed at Canton Beach?Bill; Yes. The weed started to grow in the early 70s, there is now hardly a place around the

lake where there isn’t weed. Along the shore at Long Jetty, everywhere now is weed. Weused to pull the hauling nets up onto clean white sand all over the lakes and there wasno problem with weed. Well you couldn’t do that now. The only places there used to beweed was the bay between Wyong Creek and Chittaway Point and from Chittaway downto Tumbi.

Interviewer; What about in Middle Lake in the Charmhaven area, was there ever weed there inthe 40s?

Bill; Yes but it has increased since then. At Wallarah Creek, and also back down along theshore, there was always weed along there. (Bill Byles)

Cobwebby weed chokes the shallow waters There are masses of that cobwebby stuff now but as I remember you didn’t see it in suchquantity in the 70s. The cobwebby stuff tends to roll along the bottom and always gets caught inthe growing weedbeds and then that causes a build up and it surfaces and the dead stuff (ribbonweed) comes in on the wind, gets caught on it and it forms a bank. We are also getting anothertype of macroalgae, little green floating lettuces, masses and masses of them. When that rotsdown you get that terrible sulphur/hydrogen smell. (Allan Whitham)

Changes in weed since 1950sWhen I first started to fish (1950s) there was no weed on the eastern shore of the lake. It wasclean white sand. The weed was mainly in the bays and was mainly ribbon weed. Stack weedstarted to show up in the late 60s. It got really bad in all the lakes in the early 70s. There is alot more ribbon weed now and not much stack weed. .. Ribbon weed has got bad in the last fiveyears and has mainly been from ‘the step’ into the foreshore. … the stack weed has gone. Redwool hasn’t been around for several years now. (Gordon Denniss)

Floods reduce weed growth The weed seems to decrease if we have a flood. There has only been two floods since 1964, thatwas 1990 and 1991. (Gordon Denniss)

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Weed in the 1980s and 1990s In my time, from 1980-81 onwards, the weed has nearly only ever been in the shallow water.(Michael Clouten)

Changes to Lake Munmorah The main changes are that the lakes are now muddy and weedy, and the fishing and prawning isnothing like it used to be. I remember when I was a child it was clean and white around theedges, and you only rarely came across weed. When you prawned there would be just a fewstrands of weed in the net. (Janeille Gates)

Algae and weed in the shallows at Toukley In Toukley (along Leonard Avenue) the weed varies considerably from year to year. In theearly 1970s there was only a small amount of ribbon weed washing up on the shore. But overthe years the sandy bottom disappeared and there was a lot more weed in the shallows. Thisincreased dramatically in the early 1990s..... At that time it was mainly a combination ofribbon weed and green algae. (Ron and Ena Scott)

Ernie Quinton spent many holidays atLong Jetty in the 1930s and 40s. Heeventually moved up to the TuggerahLakes in 1958 and in the 1970s had aboat hire business at Canton Beach.

Large quantities of macroalgae werepulled out of the water at Canton Beach

in 1978 in a community effort co-ordinated by Ernie Quinton (photos;

Ernie Quinton)

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3.7 Less algae and seagrass in last few years?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were large quantities of macroalgae growing in theshallow areas around the edges of the lakes. But in the last 3 or 4 years there appears to havebeen a decline in this growth. Some people have attributed this to the Power Station no longeroperating (and hence the water being cooler), while others believe it might be due to a reductionin nutrients reaching the lake now that the district is fully sewered.

The trends in seagrasses are more difficult to ascertain. Most of the professional fishermenreport that there is still very little stack weed compared with the early 1960s (or 1920s and 30s)although a few thought there might have been a very slight increase in the last couple of years.On the other hand ribbon weed still appears to be plentiful, with many people reporting quitelarge quantities being washed up on the shore in recent years.

The overall feeling of both residents and fishermen was that the health of the lake had somewhatimproved in the last 3 or 4 years with less ‘slime’ or algal growth along the lake shores.

Less algae recently There has not been much algae recently, it has improved in the last 12 months. (Albert Asplet)

Eel Haul Bay This is a photo of Eely (Eel Haul Bay) taken in 1995 showing sand. Two years before the photowas taken it was solid muck which came up to your knees. It was sandy in 1995 and still wassandy in February 1998. There is less weed at Eely now than there has been at any time in thelast 10 years. This could change again given the right conditions. (Peter Clifford)

Algal growth due to Power StationInterviewer: In the late 80s early 90s there was a lot of algae along the shores of the lake, do

you remember this?Mick; We get it nearly every year, we call it slime. It comes and goes. But that’s another thing

the power house caused, and now it is starting to go, we are not getting it as bad as itwas because the water isn’t as warm any more. Your wool, that grows in the wintertime and when it gets warmer it turns to slime. (Mick Asquith)

Red wool and green slimeMichael; We haven’t had any red wool for a few years now. It can grow in quite deep water, not

just along the edges.Interviewer: What about the green slime?Michael: Generally the green slime comes first, then it sort of turns into red. We have got a

feeling it is the one thing. The red and the green stuff generally grow more in the wintertime. This lake in the summer time, because it is only shallow and the bottom is muddy,the winds in summer makes the water too muddy. So the algae growing on the bottomcan't get the sunshine. The ribbon weed, it can still grow because it can grow up(towards the surface for light). And the ribbon weed is mainly only in the shallow water.There is not much weed that ever grows in the deep water as a rule. When the wintertime comes, the lake gets clearer & clearer because you have less wind, the water iscolder, and the fish don't swim around as much. In the middle of winter, you can seethe bottom. Most of the lake is only about 10 foot deep anyway. You can see the shellson the bottom. That is when the sunlight must get in and then you get the green wooland red wool. When it starts to get into summer it generally always dies off, by aboutChristmas. But for the last few years it hasn’t been there. ( Michael Clouten)

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Weed affected by Lakes Restoration Project It (the Lakes Restoration Project) wiped them out. Now for some reason the weed in the entirelake, even Munmorah because they did a bit of work up there too, the ribbon weed, all weed, forabout a year and a half wasn’t in the lake. There was not one blade of weed in the entire lake.The weed then came back and has now been back for a few years. (Michael Clouten)

A new ’chick’ weedNow we have got little chick weed, a little tiny thing that only grows little leaves on it. Grows onthe bottom, that has only been in the last few years. In my early days we never got that. Youonly ever got ribbon weed and then green slime and your red wool. But now you get that stuff.When we drag our prawn net along the bottom you get all that. Pop used to call it bream weedso they must have got it years ago. Since they have done the channel is the only time I’ve seenit. In my early days of fishing there was none. (Michael Clouten)

Not much algae recentlyWe haven’t any red wool or green wool worth talking about at the moment. (Michael Clouten,May 1998)

Weed growth and sewageInterviewer; When was the weed worst?John; Before the Shire was sewered, this is one of the main things that must have had something

to do with it; There is a definite improvement in the state of the lakes since the whole ofthe shire was sewered, in terms of too much weed growth. For a fisherman’s point ofview you want just a nice amount of weed. You want some patches of weed because thatis where the small fish live, and it is perfect the way it is now. There used to be toomuch weed and you just couldn’t do anything, it choked everything up, but now it isgood. (John Brown)

Less algae along the shore The algae was choking the foreshores for some distance out around 1992/93, but it disappearedprobably in 1994/95 fairly suddenly and we haven't seen it since - only ribbon weed now. (Ronand Ena Scott)

Less stack weed in the 80s and 90s By 1980 the weed position got less so the fish got less. When they say there is weed here it isonly about a tenth. I knocked off in 1980 and there wasn’t enough weed in the lake then. Themain weed for fish is what they call 'stack weed. ... it is almost non existent now.. (ArthurClouten)

Weedbeds in Budgewoi Lake (Diamond Head Drive) - changes from 1950 to 1998The weedbeds outside our place have declined in size. This is odd since there is more weedblowing up on shore, but the loose weed is coming from the other side of the lake. (AlbertAsplet)

Clarrie Wynn was born at Catherine Hill Bay in 1917. He moved to Mannering Park and was a professionalfisherman in both Lake Macquarie and Tuggerah Lakes until he retired about 8 years ago.

Allan Whitham was born in 1925 in Sydney, and was a regular visitor to the lakes until he moved permanentlyto Berkeley Vale in 1978. Allan is currently involved in a local resident’s group which is attempting to clean up

the dead weed along the lake edge.

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3.8 The sandy beaches

In the 1930s and 40s many shallow areas around the lakes were described as sandy (with onlyscattered weed patches) and delightful places for swimming and prawning. This included mostof the eastern side of Tuggerah Lake from Long Jetty to Canton Beach, Budgewoi Lake atToukley, and most of Lake Munmorah . Photographic evidence supports these descriptions.

The sandy shallow areas appear to have slowly changed from the 1960s and 70s onwards, withan increase in mud and ooze. Most people felt that the increased quantities of mud and oozeappeared when the amount of rotting weed and algae increased.

The two main reasons suggested for the change are;1) there is no hauling of fishing nets at these locations any more and hence the weed has

accumulated and turned into mud and ooze;2) there is an increased amount of pollution (nutrients) entering the lake from sewage (in the

1960s and 70s) and urban stormwater.

Other sections of the lakes, such as the south-western shores of Tuggerah Lake (near TumbiCreek and Berkeley Vale) and near Charmhaven on Budgewoi Lake, were reported by the olderresidents to have always had muddy shores, and in the 1920s were quite weedy (see section 3.9).

Canton Beach in the 1920s and 30s Oh beautiful, it was something beautiful. We could swim a long way out, we used to call it ‘theStep’, half way to The Entrance it would get deeper. And the water was something beautiful. Itis not the same place now, the weed, they are carting it away in truck loads. (Rita Struck)

Canton Beach in the 1930s and 40s I went up Canton Beach, and all up through there was pure sand in the 30s & 40s. Now there isa lot of weed. I think they use a weed catcher now. There wasn't anything like that then.Everyone went there to prawn because it was nice and sandy. It’s a bit muddy there now.Everyone went there for swimming as well. (Elizabeth Denniss)

Canton Beach and weed in the 1930s(Looking at photo of Canton Beach in the 1930s) There was no weed on the beach because theynever stopped hauling there, they were hauling all the time. But the weed used to finish up there(pointing above the water line on the sand) and as soon as you got a southerly, the weed when itwas dry, would be blown into the bush. That’s what used to happen. (Arthur Clouten)

Canton Beach was sandy in the 1930s I remember coming over to Canton Beach when it was all sand, beautiful sand. That was in1935-36, prior to the war. (Clarrie Wynn)

Sand and weed patches in the 1930s.Margaret; The whole of the lake in those days was sand. It had weed, but it was only in clumps,

and through the weed you could see the sand. You could swim around the weed patches.Interviewer; So when you were walking out in the water, were you in mud or sand?Gordon; Sand, right up to the shore it was sand, now it is mud. (Margaret and Gordon Bennett)

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Sandy shore at Peel St in the late 1940sInterviewer: At Peel Street, when you were with the Duncans (in the late 1940s), was it sandy

along the shore there?Mick; Yes, sandy and gravelly, but out in the water, if you put your anchor out, you’d go

through the gravel and sand and hit blue clay, and you’d have trouble getting youranchor back up.

Interviewer: What is it like now over there?Mick; Oh last time I was there it was weedy, and there was mud and ooze there. (Mick Asquith)

Canton Beach in the late 1940sInterviewer: What about Canton Beach, do you have memories of Canton Beach?Mick; When I was a kid it was all white sand, pure white sand.Interviewer: What about weed, was their weed washed up on the sand?Mick; Very little. Just a little bit of ribbon weed and a bit of green wool, woolly stuff. But it

was all pure white sand.Interviewer: What was it like out in the water off Canton Beach?Mick; It was good hard sand and very little weed. (Mick Asquith)

Waterfront at Long Jetty in the 1930s and 40s I remember at Long Jetty, you used to be able to walk all the way out to the edge of the deepwater where the big ribbon weed was at the far end of the wharf, and you didn’t have a bit ofweed growing on the sand flats, that was when I was a kid in the 1930s. After the war it was stillokay, there were little patches of weed beginning to take root. The only bad spot was wherethere was a drain on the left hand side of the jetty, it used to stink (the south side, near the littleboat shed). All the rest of it was as clear as crystal, sandy and no weed. (Allan Whitham)

Weed, mud and smells at Long Jetty - but it used to be sandyInterviewer: Would you have problems with weed getting in the net when you went prawning at

Long Jetty?Jean; Not alot, but now I don’t think you could even pull a net there. The weed down there is

shocking now.Interviewer: So when you walked out with the net, was it sand or mud?Jean; Sand, it was lovely and sandy. I used to take the kids out there, they used to rent out little

canoes and it was a beautiful place, absolutely lovely, but its not any more. All that stufffrom all those houses I think has gone in there. (Jean Clarkson)

Gravelly and sandy shores at Lake MunmorahInterviewer: You mentioned that on the western side of Munmorah it was gravelly?Mick; Yes it was all gravel and sand up along the top section. Just around from Elizabeth Bay,

George Fully(?) used to cart gravel out of there, he had a gravel lease in that cornerthere. He used to load his truck with gravel collected from the shore. That wasoccurring as far back as I can remember, the forties or fifties I guess. The gravel wouldwash up, because there was no weed to stop it, it was a sandy-gravelly shore, it wouldhave been 40-50 yards wide, just gravel and sand. That’s why its called Gravelly upthere. And Elizabeth Bay was beautiful white sand. There’s a lot of sand still there butalso some weed now. Elizabeth Bay still is sandy. The difference is up on the shore,there is grass growing there now. That has happened in lots of places, Canton Beachused to have a sandy shore but it is all grass now too. (Mick Asquith)

Top; Thelma Gartung (2 yrs) and Laurie Gartung (8 yrs) at Canton Beach in January 1932. (Photo; Rita Struck;Thelma and Laurie are Rita’s children from her first marriage)

Bottom; Kel Branz and Caroline at Canton Beach in 1951. (Photo; Rita Struck)

Jean Clarkson started visiting The Entrance/Long Jetty area for holidays from 1938 onwards, and has beenassociated with the area ever since. She now lives at Gorokan.

Canton Beach in the late 1940s (Photo; Wyong Historical Society)

Canton Beach in the late 1940s (Photo; Wyong Historical Society)

Canton Beach in 1938 (Photo; Bill Hansen)

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Canton Beach in 40s and 50sJean: Canton Beach was beautiful in those days (late 40s - early 50s). It was sandy and

everyone would swim there. It is awful now.Interviewer; Was there any weed?Jean; No, no, there were little tufts here and there but it was a beautiful place.Interviewer; What about along the edge of the beach if a southerly wind was blowing?Jean; You’d get a little bit if it had been rough, but that is only nature. (Jean Clarkson)

Peel St - change from sand to mud and weedInterviewer; Were you prawning into the 1970s?Bill; Yes, until about 15 years ago, then there was a lot of weed starting to come and this is

when the bottom of the lake changed from sand to mud. In earlier years the lakes werereal quality, the water was clear and you could see the fish and healthy weed. Then inthe 80s, where you used to be able to get a firm footing to prawn, our feet started to godown and there was mud, weed started to grow and it killed all the small shell life, andit all started to decline. And the stench on the Big Lake side of Toukley made itembarrassing to bring friends around. But I like to think that in the last couple of yearsit might have improved slightly. (Bill Hansen)

Bad signs even in 1960s Even by the 1960s you could see occasional pockets of floating dead weed swirling around andgetting onto the sand and the sand was getting a bit dirtier. There was also much more run-offof street water and septic and things, and was getting smelly along the edges. (Allan Whitham)

Pollution slowly caused weed problems around the shoreInterviewer; When did Canton Beach and Long Jetty get very weedy?Trevor; It has gradually got worse over the years, it has followed urban development, slowly

the ribbon weed got worse. All the areas that used to have septic systems and now allthe stuff running off the streets and lawns has caused a lot of the problem. I used toprawn with a 20 foot net at Canton Beach in the 1950s and 60s and weed wasn’t aproblem. (Trevor Spiers)

Mud and ooze appears at Long Jetty At Long Jetty the mud and ooze was moderate in the late 60s and bad by the mid 70s. (TomWallace)

Weed and mud at Long JettyInterviewer; A lot people have told me that they used to go prawning at Long Jetty and they

mentioned that there is more weed now and also a lot more muddier. Do you agree withthat?

John; Yes, that has occurred, for sure. It is naturally going to get muddier because your weeddies every year, and the dead weed doesn’t just vaporise away, it decomposes on the bottom andforms mud. (John Brown)

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Weed appears at Canton Beach in mid 70s Canton Beach was very sandy and it would have changed from the mid 70s on. It was gettingweedy. (Alwyn Quoy)

Appearance of mud in 60s and 70sInterviewer; When did you first start noticing the smell.Jean; I think it was when we first started water skiing, because you had to get the skis on and

muck around in the shallows. and we used to say, Yuck! this is awful. That wassometime in the sixties or seventies. (Jean Clarkson)

Foreshores - the sand has gone There’s a big change in the foreshores, the sand is all gone, there are very few places aroundthe lake that have sand on them now, it’s nearly all weed and silt, where years ago you could goashore anywhere and it was a good hard sandy bottom, today it’s silted. (Mick Asquith)

Effects of hauling and urban developmentThere are a lot of places there now where the haulers used to come ashore, but don’t nowbecause in between some of the jetties it has become too shallow and other areas are now closedto hauling. And all the weed that is washed up is making the ooze. ... And there is morepollution too, in those days there wasn’t the whole of Berkeley Vale emptying their rubbish intothe lake. You would be surprised how much rubbish is out there, and the septic tanks didn’t helpeither. The increase in nitrogen etc from the septic tanks would have boosted the weed growthalong the shores. And now there is all this ooze. The pollution all ends up in the lake and can’tleave because there is very little flushing of the lake. The only sea water that comes into thelake is through that narrow channel, and that has to supply three lakes. (Peter Clifford)

Rotting weed brings the mud I can remember when from Killarney right around the east edge of the lake to Toukley it was allsand. And when the weed came, then the mud came. It is the weed that brings the mud. It is therotting weed in the sediment. And it seems to fertilise itself. (Pat Clifford)

Canton Beach, Budgewoi Lake - sandy foreshores, good for fishing until the 70s Canton Beach was wonderful for catching prawns and the weeds were nowhere as vigorous asthey are now. There would only be a little bit of crackly dried weed washed up on the sand.And the eastern side of Budgewoi Lake off Leonard Avenue was a lovely sandy bottom andterrific for fishing, that was in the 50s and 60s. There were patches of weed but lots of sandyareas. We still used to get good flathead and the occasional whiting there even in the early 70s.(Allan Whitham)

Weed and mud appear along foreshoresInterviewer; Did you ever swim in the lakes in the 30s and 40s?Arthur; Yes, we’d swim anywhere, in the creek (Ourimbah) or in the lake. It was good for

swimming. We were still swimming in the lake in the 60s but not in the 70s. It was stillgood in the 60s, there used to be a lot of water skiers, but it started to go off in the 70s.As development in the area increased that is when it started to go off. The waterfronthas been sadly neglected and that is probably why less people use the lake these days,the water’s edge is so bad. In most parts of the lakes there used to be sand around theedge, but these days, if you try to pull a boat up onto the shore, it is just mud, it is notpleasurable any more. (Arthur Sterrit)

Canton Beach in 1938. The beach is sandy with only a small amount of washed up weed. (Photo; Bill Hansen)

Canton Beach, Feb 1964. The beach is sandy butsome washed up weed is present (Photo; GordonGedling)

Canton Beach in 1942 (Photo; Alwyn Quoy)

Jean Clarkson’s daughter, Jeanette (2yrs), at Toukley near the old bridge in 1943. Note that the shoreline issandy with very little weed. (Photo; Jean Clarkson)

Jeanette (7yrs) at Long Jetty in 1948. The shore is sandy with little weed. (Photo; Jean Clarkson)

Long Jetty in the 1960s. (Photo; Wyong Historical Society)

Lake Munmorah at Budgewoi in the 1960s (Photo; Wyong Historical Society)

Margaret and Gordon Gedling. Their family built a holiday house on the waterfront at Gorokan in 1956, andthey became permanent residents in 1977.

The waterfront at the Gedling’s holiday house in Gorokan, Jan 1957.

Sunday school being held on the waterfront at the Gedling’s holiday house in Gorokan, 1959-60.

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Weed and ooze appears at Gorokan The weed appeared in the 1970s. You used to be able to swim in clear water, but then weed andblack ooze appeared. The mud and ooze in the shallow water is actually quite sulfuroussometimes. It changed in the 70s. It changed from being sandy and clean and you would go outand have a swim, to there being lots of the ooze that you would sink in to. We used to have asandy beach but it has gone now. (Gordon and Margaret Gedling)

Mud at Leonard Avenue, ToukleyWhen we first arrived in the early 70s the lake edge was sandy but has slowly turned to mud or ablack ooze. The ooze is sometimes covered with sand but, when you walk in it, you sink into theunderlying black ooze. (Ron and Ena Scott)

A different mud appearedThere has always been mud in some places, but you wouldn’t go down into the mud to yourwaist, it was more of a sediment than mud. It took on a different form. (Bill Hansen)

Mud and decaying weed along the shoresI believe all the lakes are considerably more shallow now and the bottom is mostly covered by athick greasy mud in large areas. The clear sandy bottom is definitely a thing of the past. Weedgrowth is prolific and the lake shoreline certainly where I now live on the north shore ofBudgewoi Lake is nearly always covered by a smelly, decaying weed to a depth of 300 mm andsome 6 to 10 metres from shore. It is most unpleasant to walk through or try to launch any craftbecause of this horrid mess. (Ray Catterall)

Silt build-up near Green Point The silt slowly got bad after the power house started. The channel outside our place wasdredged when they built the power station, but it is slowly filling up with silt. It used to be sandyand deep out there, but now it is building up with silt. The silt gets stirred up when you walk init. (Albert Asplet)

Formation of mud from weed Dominic Cheng (marine biologist) and I got some of the weed in a jam jar. We filled the jarwith sand, then put about an inch of weed on top, then filled it up with the lake water andscrewed the lid on. In a fortnight the sand started to go brown. In a month it went black. Theweed started to soak into the sand. It decomposes and makes the sand go black. (ErnieQuinton)

General Lake health - the sludge remainsInterviewer; So you think the lake is improving?John: Probably has improved over recent years although we still have sludge around the edges

and that is horrible, but that is a legacy of past problems and has to be accepted whennutrients enter a shallow warm lake. You can’t expect to maintain a pristine lake when100,000 people move into the area. The lake doesn’t flush very well because theopening is so small and pollutants and nutrients tend to accumulate. (John McPherson)

Removal of ooze during the Lakes Restoration Project The Fisheries Department tried to restrict the removal of the mud and ooze on the grounds thatit would destroy the weed beds. But many of these areas are so choked with weed and mud thatno fish could live there. The Council finally got limited approval to dredge. (Doug Duffy)

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3.9 Some areas have always been weedy

Some areas of the lake have always had weed and mud, such as the south-western part ofTuggerah Lake and the Charmhaven area in Budgewoi Lake. Some residents however, report anincrease in the depth of mud and organic ooze, and they associate this with the increasedamounts of macroalgae and floating strands of ribbon weed during the 1980s and early 90s.

Some residents also report significant amounts of siltation near stormwater drains, which couldhave been caused by urban development, and they claim the increased load of nutrients enteringthe lake over the last 30 years has increased the amount of weed growth (both seagrass andmacroalgae) along the shores.

Always lots of weed growth but getting worseInterviewer; Where are the best developed growths (of weed) to be found?Resident 2; Stack growth; the southern and western shallows of Tuggerah; generally the

western shallows and central portion of Budgewoi, and the north-west part ofMunmorah.

Interviewer; Has this location always been noted for dense growth?Resident 2; Well yes, particularly Tuggerah and Budgewoi locations and although there have

been periods of growth and decline in the past the actual development in the growthperiods of the past have only once been as bad as recently. (Resident since 1881,interviewed in 1963)

Silt and mud at TumbiInterviewer: What about silt and ooze in the lake? Down near Tumbi and down that end of the

lake it is quite muddy these days.Henry: Yes, that has always been muddy. Once you left Long Jetty and went that way you

would get mud. (Henry Denniss)

Tumbi to Chittaway was weedy, Tuggerawong was sandy As you went around from Tumbi, round to Chittaway to the mouth of the Wyong River it was, inmy book, the most part of weed. From Tumbi onwards. When they went on the haul for blackfish that was the dig they concentrated around. When they got from the other side of the WyongRiver and going up around Tuggerawong, that was mainly all sandy. (Elizabeth Denniss)

Some places always had weed When I first started fishing (1930s), there was always weed from the mouth of the Wyong Riveracross to Chittaway, there was always ribbon weed and stack weed. You would go down toTumbi and it was the same, from Chittaway to Tumbi always had weed. (Bill Byles)

Mud always present There has always been mud. Down near Tumbi, from Tumbi Creek around, for about a quarterof a mile or a bit more, you would end up in mud. They want sand there now when it wasoriginally mud. It was the same up there in the Middle Lake there was always mud there. (PatClifford)

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Weed on western side of Budgewoi LakeInterviewer: Before you said that you remember there was lots of stack weed in Budgewoi Lake

in the early 60s. Was there always weed around the Charmhaven area?Mick; Yes, but there is no weed there now compared with what there used to be,Interviewer: Is there stack weed still growing on the bottom or not?Mick; No, no it is just bare now. They (the Power Station) killed the stack weed and the shell

life and everything. (Mick Asquith)

Killarney Vale and Berkeley ValeInterviewer; What about Killarney Vale and Berkeley Vale was that ever sandy?Pat; It was always weed around there. (Pat Clifford)

Weed at Berkeley ValeInterviewer; Did you go out in a boat to the Berkeley Vale area?Gordon; Yes, that area was fairly weedy and slightly muddy... . Even down at Saltwater Creek

near Killarney Vale it was fairly weedy. (Gordon Bennett)

Berkeley ValeInterviewer; What was it like at Berkeley Vale in the 30s and 40s?Arthur; The water there was pretty clear, and there was ribbon weed around the edges and

gradually it was replaced by scungy growth and it became unpleasant and used to stink.There were very few houses down there in the 30s and 40s. (Arthur Sterrit)

Weed at Berkeley Vale in the 70s, 80s and 90s (In the late 70s) we used to have clear water right up to our wharf at the shore but the incomingweed now accumulates and forms banks parallel to the shoreline about 100 metres out. All thesmall seagrass that used to grow in pockets around holes of sand, where you could catch nicelittle flathead and bream, all that died because the drift weed on top of it smothers it. So theweed beds have been lost due to the long strands of the bigger weed coming over the top andburying it and killing it. The incoming drift weed accumulates one hundred metres out andforms a barrier, with a shallow lagoon behind it. (Allan Whitham)

Siltation and ooze and nutrients along foreshore at Berkeley Vale In 20 years, we have lost an average of about 1 foot per year (referring to siltation of lakeedge), but that was not really noticeable until we had been here about 10 years. There was verylittle change in the first 10 years. It was when the new development started. When we firstmoved here there wasn’t that many houses. Recently there have been large urban developmentsup on the top of the hill and back into the farmland. The runoff from these new areas nowwashes all the soil and stuff down the drains. The two major issues are the enormous increasein population that has increased the input of sediment and chemicals into the lake, and the highlevel of nutrient now permanently trapped in the lake. The whole cycle of degradation hasbecome self-sustaining. (Allan Whitham)

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3.10 Washed up weed (wrack) along the shoreline

In autumn, the seagrass beds tend to die back and most of the leaves from the ribbon weed tendto fall off. The dead leaves either wash out into deeper water or ashore, where they form highbanks of ‘wrack’ which rot slowly.

Flocks of black swans can also pull up large quantities of ribbon weed while feeding on thestolons and young shoots. This contributes to the amount of loose weed drifting around thelakes.

There are also some filamentous macroalgal species which grow on the lake bottom or inassociation with seagrass beds and can form large mats of fine ‘wool’. As the water starts towarm up in spring time, these might float to the surface and can foul up fishing nets or driftacross to the lake shore where they rot and create foul odours.

Although the presence of loose weed along the lake edge is a natural part of the lake ecology,most of the people interviewed believe that they have observed an increase in the quantitydrifting ashore. This increase appears to have started in the 60s and continued through the 70s,80s and early 90s.

There was mixed opinion about whether the amount of wrack has remained constant ordecreased in the last 2-5 years. Some felt it might have declined slightly.

In the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s virtually everyone reported clean sandy foreshores around theeastern shores of Tuggerah Lake and all of Munmorah Lake (except for the rocky western shoreand the gravelly north-western shore) with only small amounts of washed up weed. Places suchas Canton Beach, Long Jetty and the camping reserve on Lake Munmorah were popular forswimming and prawning. Old photos of these locations show a clean sandy beach, with onlysmall amounts of washed up ribbon weed, except after large storms.

In other areas of the lakes the amount of wrack that people can remember varies, probablydepending on the exact location and the year. Some areas naturally accumulated wrack(probably due to prevailing winds etc) where others were always free of wrack. One person onBuff Point remembers that visitors to their weekender would comment on the wrack andassociated smell even in the 1930s. However just around from their house was a sandy beachwhich was always free of weed and good for prawning.

In summary, there has always been wrack along the shorelines of the Tuggerah Lakes, but mostpeople believed that in the last 20-30 years there were much greater amounts of wrack than therewas 40-60 years ago. However, some felt that there might have been a slight improvement in thelast 2-5 years. .

Drift weed after storms in the early daysMy father and other older people were always talking about the weeds particularly after severestorms or floods when the dead weed littered the shoreline in offensive heaps. (Resident since1903, interviewed in 1963)

Swans pulling up ribbon weed and seasonal dieback The swans eat the roots of the ribbon weed and they pull it up, that is one of the causes of allthe loose weed that washes up on the shore. In the winter time the ribbon weed dies off andfloats ashore also. (John Brown)

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Raking up the dead weed in 1929-30 In about 1929 or1930, before we came to live here, my dad and others had a working bee hereto drag the dead weed out of the water, it was a dry time after big floods. There was so muchfreshwater in the lake that I think it was killing the weed and when it came to the surface it wasblown to the shore and there was just a mass of weed. My father supplied the transport for theworking bee, there would have been about 20 people and they loaded up the dray and a truckand carted the weed away to my father’s farm at long Jetty. (Gordon Bennett)

Weed at Buff Point-Green Point in 1928-29 I lived about ½ way between Green and Buff Point and there was a lot of weed there when wefirst went there(1928-29) but we loved the place. .... the weed was so bad at that time that myfather got all the big boulders and built a rock jetty so that we could get out beyond the weed.The wind used to bring the weed in and it got caught near our place. There would be 5-6 metresof loose weed near the shore and beyond that it was sandy except for the occasional patch ofweed growing in the sand. It was the weed that got blown in that got smelly. (Eileen Brown)

Weed washed up on shore There was very little free ribbon weed in the lake in those days, at least in the areas I wasfamiliar with, which is The Entrance and up along the eastern side of the lake. And I don’t everremember seeing ribbon weed washed up on the ocean beach (at The Entrance), but if youwalked along there now you’d pick up a ton of it. (Doug Duffy)

Dead weed would dry out One difference in those days with the weed was that when the lake flooded the dead weed wouldbe washed up 100 feet back from the normal edge of the lake, so it wouldn’t be sitting on thewater’s edge rotting but would be further up the bank drying out. (Gordon Bennett)

Canton Beach in the late 1940s and early 1950sInterviewer: What about the loose weed that blows up on the shore.Irene; It might have been further down towards the point on both side of the bridge, but I don’t

remember it being bad, but I do remember in later years when we visited there would begreat piles of it in the sand. I used to say, what is all that stuff , because we never hadseen it before.

Eric; The weed has most definitely increased, there was always some weed but it was isolated.(Irene and Eric Pearson)

Algae at Canton Beach in the 1970s About 1975-76 is when I saw that (the algae) building up, it interfered with my boat hiring. Icouldn't run a launch there. So I went to the council and they said that they had more importantpriorities. So I said I’d clean it up myself. I started getting publicity and I had channel 3 in onit (I still have the film), and the papers too. We did about 17 weeks of bulldozing on CantonBeach, we went out about 90 metres, then we pushed it back in on the shore. I think it was about500 tonnes. The school kids dragged out 50 tonnes of it. It all went to the Toukley golf links forfilling. The Council said they would take the weed off the beach if we did the work. (ErnieQuinton)

Weed washed up on the shores of Lake Munmorah Some weed used to get washed up on the shores of the lakes in the 30s, 40s and 50s but itwouldn’t smell bad,. But in the 1960s I remember alot of weed washed up on shore and badsmells from it. (Arthur Sterrit)

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Rotting weed along lake’s edge The clear sandy bottom is definitely a thing of the past. Weed growth is prolific and the lakeshoreline certainly where I now live on the north shore of Budgewoi Lake is nearly alwayscovered by a smelly, decaying weed to a depth of 300mm and some 6 to 10 metres from shore. Itis most unpleasant to walk through or to try to launch any craft because of this horrid mess .(Ray Catterall)

Washed up weed in Budgewoi Lake (Diamond Head Drive) There has always been some weed washed up on shore during strong southerlies, but thereseems to be more these days. In the 50s it never seemed to be a problem, it would be washed upand then just get dispersed. There has been lots in the last few weeks (early August 1998)because of the southerly gales we have been having. (Albert Asplet)

Washed up weed near Green Point from the 1940s onwardsJust off Deaves Point, where we used to prawn, you would get just a little bit of ribbon weed.When the southerlies blew up you would see the weed (more near Eileen’s place than where wewere) washed up on the beach and when days were hot you would get the smell from the weed.But it slowly started to get worse. As time went by you would see more weed, it just seemed tospread and it would get in our nets. I think it also got muddier as the weed grew. (GlenMcKenzie)

Washed up weed always occurredInterviewer; Weed piling up on shore; did this always occur, is there more dead seaweed than

there used to be?Gordon; Yes, this always occurred, and there is no more than in previous years. (Gordon

Denniss)

Smells and rotting weed at Peel StInterviewer; The smell that comes across from Toukley, did you notice that in earlier years?Bill; It was not there earlier, as I said the quality of the lake in the 30s, 40s & 50s was vastly

different to now. There was weed that washed up on shore and if you got strongwesterly winds it used to build up in some pockets and of course you got some smell thenbut not to the quantity that you get now. It is just the quantity of weed now. There areweeds here now that I have never seen before.

Interviewer: Can you describe them?Bill; There was always ribbon weed (or grass weed), then there was a more spreading, thick

dense weed that started to appear. The ribbon weed came in loose after the westerliesgales and you would get weed washed up along here and the sand would cover it and itwould naturally break down. But eventually we just got too much weed, and the naturalbreaking down process from the sand and the small things that live in it, couldn’t copeand on hot days it would ferment. I don’t think the natural cycle could cope with themuch greater quantities of weed that started appeared along the shore. (Bill Hansen)

Drift weed keeps coming into shore at Berkeley Vale This area (Berkeley Vale) is the recipient of residual weed that is growing out of controlthroughout the lake. Other areas also receive large quantities, such as North Chittaway Pointand Wyong Bay. If nothing is done about all the rubbish and dead weed that accumulates, thelive weedbeds are just smothered by the wrack (dead material) and die. Once you remove thedead weed, you find that little clumps of live weed begin growing again because it is oxygenatedand can get sunlight. ...Autumn is the worst time, it is the end of the growing season and themature fronds break off in the windy weather and come in by the tonne. (Allan Whitham)

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Budgewoi - Gorokan - washed up weedInterviewer; Have you always had strands of ribbon weed washed up on the shore here?Gordon: Yes, we’ve always had some of it washed up on shore but not the extent we have now.

(Gordon Gedling)

Less weed washed up now? - Peel St.Interviewer; In terms of weed piling up on shore, that increased during the 70s?Bill; Yes, to the extent that we had a guy from Council who would come along with a rake on a

tractor, piling up the weed. There was a lot of weed here then. But now there is nosmell coming in with a north-west wind, and I don’t think we are getting as much of thebad weed either, so it might have got better. (Bill Hansen)

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3.11 Smells get worse?

Many people have reported an increase in smells. However some of the longer term residentsmention that there have always been occasions when there has been a weedy smell. Thedifference might be that the increased quantities of ooze over the last 10-20 years has produced astronger, more sulfurous smell where as the smell in previous times was more of a ‘wet weed’smell.

A few of the older residents, however, commented that the increase in complaints about smellssimply reflects the larger number of people living around the shores of the lake.

Canton Beach - smells Smells are something that has always existed along the Canton Beach foreshores. During theearlier times this was confined more towards the western end of the area, however as the weedgrowth spread, the whole of the beach became buried under masses of ribbon weed wheneverstrong southerly winds blew ... and still is a problem. The stench from the rotting weed couldoften be smelled as far as the Main Road up as far as Victoria Street. It has only been in morerecent years that Wyong Council has implemented action to remove the weed buildup before itbegan to decay. (Gordon Browne)

Weed and smells in Lake Munmorah With the populating of San Remo and Lake Munmorah, they too became areas where the weedwashed ashore created an odour problem. Before Munmorah Power Station, Munmorah Lakedidn’t have a weed problem. There were no extensive beds of weed in the lake. (GordonBrowne)

Weed smellsInterviewer: When you were younger, would you notice the smells from the rotting weed?Mick; Yes, that’s always been there, you get into those corners where the weed collects and

there’s always been those smells. (Mick Asquith)

There always were bad smells As the whole lakeside is built on now, the complaints will come. As weed heaps up and rotsthere will be odours, there always were. (Peter Clifford)

Smells always presentThere is a stink that comes from the weed. It doesn’t come very often. It has to be very hotweather. It goes very slimy. The weed along the shore that is washed up. That has alwayshappened. (Henry Denniss)

No-one was here to notice the smellsPeople wouldn't have known about it (the smells) previously because no-one was living there.(Elizabeth Denniss)

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Smells at Berkeley ValeInterviewer; Did you notice smells when you arrived here in the late 70s?Allan; Not very often, you might have got some in the heat of summer and early autumn when

the lake level was low, but it wasn’t that noticeable. That has got steadily worse. Younow get it in the hot weather and when the weed is decaying. It is particularly bad whenthe shallow water where the macroalgae grows, dries up and then you get that verystrong sulphur-hydrogen smell as the algae rots. And of course on top of that you havethe smell of whatever marine life has been trapped and has died. It is offensive with anonshore breeze. (Allan Whitham)

Smells at Green Point-Buff Point in the 1930s When we first had the place, in the 1930s, visitors used to come up and in the visitors bookthey’d write comments about it being a wonderful place except for the stinking weed, but we gotused to it. (Eileen Brown)

Smells at Toukley and Gorokan Sometimes, if there had been a storm and weed had been washed up and the sun got on it, youmight smell it, but I wouldn’t say there was ever a constant smell prevailing here. My fatherbought the land over here (in 1923) and not on the Toukley side because it was a nicer side andless smell than the Toukley side. (Alwyn Quoy)

Smells at Toukley Smells - this has varied over the last 25 years and has been most noticeable when the lake levelhas dropped and there are large amounts of algae, as in the early 1990s. There has been noreally strong smell at our property for some time now (say 5 years), just a fairly weak smell ofrotting weed. Any smell we experienced in the past was mainly when there was algae present inthe lake. (Ron and Ena Scott)

Less smell recently along Peel StInterviewer; You mentioned, there could have been an improvement in the last few years?Bill; Going back 3-4 years ago we were getting that bad smell that occurs along the main part of

Toukley, but I haven’t had that smell for a little while now. The bad smells made meembarrassed to have people visit here. (Bill Hansen)

Mud, slime and smell increasing (1961) If something is not done soon the Tuggerah Lakes will be in such a mess with regard muck andslime that no prawning or fishing can be done and fishermen will have to leave for other placesuntil the lake cleans up. People who bought land close to the lake which had nice sandybeaches have now mud and slime and a strong smell. (Arthur Clouten’s diary, 1961)

Smells - not a new thingInterviewer; Around these lakes, would you always get the weed washing up on the shore

creating a smell or is that new?Clarrie; No it is not new, that did happen, the iodine would come out of the weed. In the 30s

you would pull your boat up on them and the iodine would drift up and a white boatwould end up grey. It must have been the fumes that came up.

Interviewer; So there used to be some smell from weed?Clarrie; Yes, in certain pockets you would get certain weed blown in the corners, not so much

in Lake Macquarie but Tuggerah you did. .....they would have that woollen stuff in theselakes, it would wash into a corner and it would smell, you could smell it up atCharmhaven and beyond. You always have had that. (Clarrie Wynn)

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3.12 Seagrass and macroalgae – too much or too little?

Beds of seagrass are valuable fish habitat in the Tuggerah Lakes. These act as a host forepiphytes (microscopic algae) and small marine animals (such as protozoans) by providing asurface area on which they can grow. In turn, fish (such as leatherjacket, luderick and mullet)and crustaceans graze on these. The seagrass beds also provide shelter for small fish andcrustaceans from larger predatory fish. Macroalgae (the ‘wools’ and ‘slimes’) is anotherimportant source of food for fish and other marine animals in the lakes.

The unvegetated areas (sand and mud flats) also play an important role in the ecology of the lakesystem by providing habitat for a range of other marine animals such as worms, shellfish andfish species such as whiting and flathead.

The greatest biodiversity of marine life in Tuggerah Lakes will occur when there is acombination of both vegetated areas (both seagrass beds and macroalgae), and also someunvegetated areas (sand and mud flats).

However, if nutrient levels in the water are high, excessive growth of macroalgae can occur.This growth can smother seagrass beds and also cover the sand and mud flats. If the lakesbecome dominated by macroalgae, the biodiversity is likely to be reduced.

Excessive growth of macroalgae can also restrict commercial fishing activities as well as somerecreational uses of the lakes. Decomposition of large quantities of dead plant material along theedges of the lakes also gives off offensive odours and creates a thick layer of organic ooze whichcovers the sandy shallows.

Stack weed is good habitat for fish The main weed for fish is what they call ’stack weed’. The other one is ’ribbon weed’. Theribbon weed used to feed the fish but gives no shelter. The young fish came to the shallowwater, and the pelicans and shags would eat them all, so you would never get lots of fish untilyou have stack weed. Now the stack weed is like a blackberry vine, it came to the top of thewater, and they couldn’t eat the small ones, so fish was plentiful. (Arthur Clouten)

Small fish live in weed You need the weed, that is where the small fish live. (Pat Clifford)

Too much weed can mean less fishInterviewer; Is there more fish when there is lots of weed?Trevor; I honestly believe that if there’s lots and lots of weed there is less fish because there is

not enough sandy areas for them. Places such as along the eastern shore of TuggerahLake, where we used to go, and we’d pick up whiting, bream and flathead and so forth,a lot of these places are now choked with ribbon weed, there is no sand there, hence noworms and other food that live in the sandy areas.

Interviewer; What about blackfish, are there more of them because they like weed?Trevor; No it is different type of weed that he eats. He eats the green weed which grows on

logs or rocks. He doesn’t eat ribbon weed. They also will eat prawns but they aremainly a weed eater. (Trevor Spiers)

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Habitat for fish - some like sand and some like weedHenry: When you got up to Canton and back down this side of the lake was where the whiting

used to be also.Interviewer: They liked the sand as well?Elizabeth: They are like the bream. They live on shells. They don’t like the weed.Interviewer: And Munmorah was a good spot for bream?Henry; Yes a good spot for bream.Interviewer; What about Budgewoi Lake?Elizabeth; They’d use set nets and mullet nets in there.Henry; There was a lot of blackfish in there. They used to haul for blackfish. The blackfish liked

the weed.Elizabeth; The blackfish would like the weed, the bream and whiting go for the shells, and the

flathead goes for the prawns and the little fish.Henry: All in that Bay on the other side of the lake from Wyong river around to Chittaway Point

there used to be a lot of black fish in that area. Around the banks there. A lot of weedin that area. (Henry and Elizabeth Denniss)

Red wool attracts the fishInterviewer: So is it a problem to you then when there is a whole lot of algae?Michael: It is when you are hauling because it makes it hard to catch the fish. But I will tell

you now if there is a spot where the red wool is, I will nearly bet that is where the fishwill be and prawns.

Interviewer: So it is good for the fish but it can be harder to catch?Michael: Yes. I’ve seen down in Tumbi the red wool there one year was there right up to

Christmas, and we were getting school prawns and when the red wool left you couldn'tget any prawns. The prawns left with it. You get plenty of fish and plenty of prawns offit, but we haven't had that for quite a few years, we haven't had them prawns, so howmuch do they rely on it. You talk to any of the fisherman, we haven’t had red wool forquite a few years and we haven't had any ocean prawns either. (Michael Clouten)

Red wool makes hauling difficult In the eighties we used to get a lot of it (red wool). Sometimes you would nearly have to stopwork for it, because you couldn't get your net in. (Michael Clouten)

Too much weed prevents haulingWhen the weed gets really thick the fisherman can’t haul any more, it lifts the net up. The fishhide in the weed and the hauling net misses them. (John Brown)

Weed and slime prevents hauling Last year (1960) when I started to use the hauling net in November the slime wool was so badsome days the net would have to be picked up broken in half. But when a landing could be madea good quantity of bream could be had. By December we had to put this net away and goprawning because there was only a couple of places in the lake where a net could be hauled in.Shortly after that, about February, those two places got too bad and now for several months nohauling nets could be hauled and this coming year none may be done so a big drop can beexpected. (Arthur Clouten’s diary)

Some weed is essential but not too much For a fisherman’s point of view you want just a nice amount of weed. You want some patchesof weed because that is where the small fish live, and it is perfect the way it is now. There usedto be too much weed and you just couldn’t do anything, it choked everything up, but now it isgood . (John Brown)

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4 Fishing and prawning

4.1 Fishing in the 1920s - 1940s Fishing in the 1920s, 30s and 40s was generally very good. One of the main attractions of theTuggerah Lakes for campers and holiday makers was the excellent fishing and prawning duringthe summer season. Since there were few shops to buy fresh food, most people were catchingfish on a daily basis and this was reported to be quite easy. You were regarded as a ‘dud’ if youcouldn’t catch fish. Most years, professional fishermen were also obtaining good catches and sometimes they wererestricted from catching more fish by the limit on how many they could process. The pricesobtained for fish were often very low (possibly due to an oversupply of fish on a coast-widebasis?) and sometimes the price they obtained did not even cover costs. However, there were occasions when the fish were scarce and professional fishermen wouldtravel up the coast to other estuaries, particularly in winter time when the fish would leave theshallower and colder Tuggerah Lakes. Fishing in the 1920s In those days it was possible to make a living catching mullet, luderick and a few flathead forabout 9 months of the year but very few could be caught during July, August and September.The main lake was very weedy on the western side but the eastern side had clear sand flats,where prawning was done. Also sand whiting and bream could be caught in reasonablequantities for 9 months of the year. These would be caught by hauling nets. The Middle Lake,now known as Budgewoi, was a very weedy lake where luderick and mullet was available duringthe same months as the main lake. (Arthur Clouten) Hauling at The Entrance in the 1920s and 30s My father used to haul just off the shore about 100 metres north of where the old Co-op at theNorth Entrance is. Dad and his father and the other brothers used to have their boats there andthat was one of the main hauling grounds in those days, mainly for bream, blackfish, whitingand mullet. In February and March they would haul from there, often getting over 100 boxes inone haul. They would stake their net and market the fish, about 20 boxes daily, finishing the lotby Thursday. Boxes were a limiting factor as you had to have sufficient to send your fish, alsoice which had to be ordered and kept at the depot. Two types of cases were used generally,benzene boxes holding about 60lbs, and hardwood apple cases slightly less. (Peter Clifford) Fishing in the late 1920s and early 30s Interviewer; When you were a kid of 10-15 yrs old, would you fish in the lakes? Mick: Yes we used to fish in the lake. Dad used to take his holidays at Xmas time, and he had a

boat called ‘Buzz-Buzz’. ....we used to go out and camp on the lake for a fortnight. We’djust fish and sleep and swim. Now fish in those days, you’d have no trouble in catchingthem for a feed. .....We’d wake at daybreak, get into the boat, go out about 200 yards,anchor, throw our lines over, and we’d start fishing. And in 5-10 minutes we’d havefish coming into the boat. I would be up in the cabin with a little stove, and as soon asthey came out of the water they’d go into the pan. ....Today it is nearly impossible.(Mick Baker)

Top; The Entrance, May 1934. The fish werecaught as the channel was opened up after beingclosed for some time. (Photo from Pat Clifford)

Middle; “This photo was taken by me on a BoxBrownie camera in about 1928-29 I think. Theman with the moustache and smoking a cigarette ismy grandfather, Walter Denniss. The flathead wascaught about halfway between Dunleith and TheEntrance Hotel while fishing for whiting on theflats with a no. 3 gut line. Weight 17 ½ pounds onthe shop scales.” (Peter Clifford)

Bottom; Pat Clifford. The Cliffords are one of theoriginal families of fishermen in the district. Pat’sgreat grandfather was fishing the Tuggerah Lakesin the 1880s. Pat started fishing as a teenager inthe 1920s.

Henry and Elizabeth Denniss. The Denniss family have been fishing professionally on the Tuggerah lakes forfour generations. Henry started fishing with his father in the mid 1920s.

The Entrance North in the 1920s or early 30s? (Photo supplied by Pat Clifford)

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Fishing at The Entrance North in the 1920s and 30s We could catch as many (fish) as we wanted from the boats off the wharf next to our place (atThe Entrance North). As the tide came in, you could see the bream and the blackfish swimmingaround and also the odd flounder swimming around and at other places you could see theflathead.... Whiting could be caught on the sand anywhere. (Peter Clifford) Fishing at Gorokan in the late 1920s Down the front here (along the Corso) we used to fish, we’d stand on the bank and throw a lineout and catch 1-1½ lb flathead or bream. On the mornings before going home we used to godown and get 6-8 good sized fish (mainly flathead and bream) before having to catch the trainfrom Wyong (that was in the late 1920s). (Alwyn Quoy) Fishing at Canton Beach in the 1920s and 30s We’d always have holidays in Toukley we loved it so much and there was plenty of fish, plentyof prawns. We had loads of fish down here three times a day. But just for a change we’dsometimes walk across to Noraville and fish there. Dad bought a 25 yard net, and we’d haveone haul with the net to catch some prawns and then we’d go out to fish. Oh, that’s what welived for. We always had a boat, we went halves in a boat, my husband and dad, and every timethey came home we’d spend all our time cleaning the fish, plenty of fish, they’d never fail, therewas that much fish, we lived on fish. Put a prawn on the hook and you’d always get a fish, andmostly bream, they were beautiful bream, and Mum was the cook. (Rita Struck) Fishing in Lake Munmorah in the 1920s and 30s Listening to what my father and his brothers related to the times prior to when my personalmemory came into play during the mid 1930s, fishing was excellent. In the time prior to thebridge being built about 1930, it was as simple as putting a prawn on the hook and casting thecat-gut line into Budgewoi Creek to have an instant catch. Mostly these fish were bream ortarwhine with the occasional flathead, all big fish. ....My parents often told that when campingon their land, if it was decided to have fish for a meal, the frying pan was made ready. By thetime the fat was hot, the fish had been pulled from the creek, scaled and cleaned then straightinto the pan. (Gordon Browne) Good fishing in Dunleith Channel Dunleith channel was shallow in places and the old bucket dredge had been used to keep itopen. It was good fishing in the channel especially at the Dunleith end where it ran into quite alarge hole where bream and blackfish could be caught. The edges of the channel also producedan abundance of whiting and flathead. Worms and nippers were plentiful for the digging, andprawns could be raked out of the sand anywhere. Clicker prawns could be trod on the Terilbahmudflats. (Peter Clifford) Luderick in Middle Lake Middle Lake was always full of ribbon weed because it is the shallowest lake and the blackfishloved it. In the 40s we used to haul in there and to get 20-30-40 boxes, they were a big fish anda bronzy colour and you don’t see those any more, I don’t know why. There are a few luderickin there now, but you don’t catch them because you don’t get any money for them. (Bill Byles)

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Large Hauls of fish Years ago, prior to my time there were some large hauls. I remember dad talking about theNicholson’s for instance, Uncle Stan, getting 365 boxes of bream in Basket Bay which is a baybetween the Wyong River and Rocky Point, and because there was no ice in those days theypegged the net and kept the fish alive for a week or more, just pulling in a few at a time. (TrevorSpiers) Large flathead Flathead; there were some days when there would be a box or two of flathead caught andthey’d all be 2-3 kgs. Large flathead were also being caught at the mouth of the channel withlines. (Peter Clifford) Fishing at Buff Point In the 1930 to 1950 period there was plenty of fish and prawns, including garfish, whiting,blackfish, mullet, bream and flathead. It is almost a waste of time throwing a line in now (atBuff Point) (Keith Southwell) Fishing at Long Jetty and The Entrance in the 30s and 40s Interviewer; Were there lots of fish then, what sort of fish? Gordon; Oh yes lots of fish, mainly bream and flathead, but there were all sorts, whiting, tailor,

blackfish; good sized whiting. The tailor weren’t so big probably because theymigrated. And lots of mullet, I have actually seen the water down at The Entrancebubbling with mullet, they were so thick. We used to go down with jags and just dragthem out. (Gordon Bennett)

Fishing at The Entrance in the late 30s and 40s Jean; Our favourite spot was over near the island (Pelican Island) because there was some deep

water there. We’d catch everything there, flatties, bream, blackfish, whiting,leatherjackets, nearly everything and beautiful blue swimmer crabs. and of course theprawns. We’d go prawning the night before for bait. … Sometimes we’d catch verylarge flathead and often we’d forget the net so Jack would bring it into the boat byleaning the boat over until the water started coming in and then swim it in. They’d be 6or 7 pounders.

Interviewer: So most times you’d go fishing you’d catch something worthwhile? Jean; Oh yes, you usually got a good feed. You wouldn’t catch too much because you only had

ice chests in those days so you couldn’t keep them. You could give any extra to theneighbours but then they would be out fishing also. So you only really caught what youwanted.

Interviewer: So most people were fishing and prawning when they went there for a holiday? Jean; Yes yes, and all catching fish. They would think you were a bit of a dud if you didn’t

catch anything in those days. (Jean Clarkson) 1940s; Fish scarce except for Top Lake Fish getting scarce in early 40s due to closed channel - but Munmorah still good. My twobrothers, Harold and Bruce, were hauling with brother-in-law Jack Denniss, but due to theentrance channel blocking up, they had been catching very little fish, mainly large flathead(some up to 8-9 lbs), and Jack said he was leaving if fish did not improve. ... After Jack left Iwent up to the Top Lake, now called Munmorah Lake, on the advice of an uncle, Abe Clouten. Ihad previously hauled there in 1929-30 at times. We had some very good hauls of bream andlarge tarwhine, 30 cases a haul was common. We had to carry shovels to dig the channel whengoing in and out. (Arthur Clouten’s diary)

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Mullet plentiful in the creeks in the 1940s Floods occurred in 1945, so returned to Tuggerah Lake in August bringing a hauling net knownas a floater. As the entrance was again blocked from the sea, mullet which could not escapegrew to a larger size than usual. Many a large haul (up to 40 cases) was to be taken inChittaway Creek and Wyong river. After September the mullet left the rivers and hauls of up to60 cases were caught around Tumbi and the eastern side of the lake. This continued until May1946 when heavy rain caused a rising lake level and the entrance had to be opened again, whichmeant many fish left the lake. (Arthur Clouten’s diary) Fishing at The Entrance in the late 1940s The big thing that sticks in my memory about camping at The Entrance in the late 40s was thenumber of fish and the prawns. They used to do a ballot for the professional fishermen to seewho would be allowed to use their nets across the entrance channel. I can remember as a youngbloke going down there with a spear, walking over and spearing myself a flathead everymorning. Of course it is illegal now to do that. There didn’t seem to be any shortage, there wasalways plenty of prawns and fish. And the clarity of the water was really good. (Eric Pearson)

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4.2 Prawning in the 1920s, 30s and 40s For the holiday makers at The Entrance, Long Jetty, Canton Beach and the camping reserve atBudgewoi, prawning was a major attraction of the area. In the summer holidays everyone wouldgo prawning at night time (when conditions were right), and catch a kerosene tin-full of prawns(a kerosene tin was 4 gallons or about 18 litres). The prawns would be caught with a 20 footdrag net or with scoop nets, and would be cooked in a big pot on the beach, then eaten.Everyone described a plentiful supply of prawns in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. At daytime, some people described catching prawns for bait simply by going down to thesandbars at The Entrance with a metal rake and raking through the sand. This would exposeenough prawns to use for bait during the day. It was reported that the professional prawners also caught large quantities of prawns during the1920s, 30s and 40s, although there were also occasions when they were not so abundant. Thenumbers of school prawns and king prawns dropped if the channel at The Entrance was closedfor a year or two and spawn could not drift into the lakes. However during these times, thegreasyback prawns would increase in abundance since they breed within the lakes and do notrequire access to the ocean. Chinese at Canton Beach in the 1800s In the middle 1800s or there abouts, they caught the prawns, cooked them well, dried them out,then thrashed them and sent them to China. They also bought fish and dried them too. That iswhy it is called Canton Beach. Prawns and fish were also sent to the goldfields. They used tohaul all along the eastern shore, except in the far corner near Cedar Wharf, but wherever it waspossible, there would be someone prawning. (Peter Clifford) Prawning early this century Henry: My dad and his father they used catch school prawns and dry them out on racks. Elizabeth: They were like ‘China prawns’, they were all dried. Most of them went to China. Henry: With prawns, one time you used to be able to go out there and walk along and get a

bucket of prawns every night. Everyone went prawning. Elizabeth: You had your prawning season from October to February, then you’d go back

fishing. Henry: Everyone had there own ‘dig’ for prawning. From here (the North Entrance) to Toukley

all used to be taken up by prawners. It was all nice and sandy then. Elizabeth: Henry's sister and I had a little prawn net, and we used to get 2 or 3 boxes of prawns

just down at the channel. You had to wait on the tide. The prawns travel out to sea onthe tide. This was in the 20s, 30s and 40s

Interviewer: Everyone on holiday would catch prawns? Elizabeth: Oh yes they’d catch a kerosene tin-full of them every night. Henry: If someone went up along the shore here and wanted some bait all they did was push

their foot in a couple to times and they’d find prawns. (Henry and Elizabeth Denniss) Good prawn catches in early 1930s One night in November 1931 we caught 84 cases of school prawns (60 lbs per case) and for theoverall week, 125 cases, for which we were paid 37 pounds. This amounted to 9 pds / 6 shillingseach person. That season would be the best for quite a few years and was due to the recordfloods in 1928-29 which put a big entrance from the lake into the sea. Fishing was also goodexcept for the three cold months. (Diary of Arthur Clouten)

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Prawning in Tuggerah Lakes Prawning in Tuggerah Lakes used to be a big industry before the weed died in 1939. The bestseasons were those after a large flood. The flood water would cut a large entrance to the lakeand so plenty of sea water could come in, and also prawn spawn would be brought in largequantities. King and school prawn spawn at sea and the spawn comes in with the tide. With asmall entrance, less spawn comes in to hatch in the lake. In the 1920s to 1934 school prawnsafter a wet season would amount to hundreds of cases per season. Some mornings 200 caseswould be sent to market but prawns were worth only a few shillings per case and at times wouldnot clear expenses so would not be caught. The net used to catch these prawns was of 1 1/8mesh when new, but after tanning would shrink to 1 inch and the legal size of prawns was 3 inchyet no-one ever caught small prawns. (Arthur Clouten’s diary) Brief History of Tuggerah Lakes Prawns Large quantities of greasyback prawns used to be caught in Lake Munmorah before the firstWorld War, but since there was very little demand for them at the time they were dried and sentto China and were known as ’Chowed Prawns’. The usual net was a hauling net of 1 inch mesh,and 100 fathom length. In the 1920s and 1930s considerable quantities of school and kingprawns were captured using this net size, the legal length for prawns being 3 inches. In 1936,greasybacks were again present in Lake Munmorah but prices were very cheap, often notclearing expenses. The next appearance of these type of prawns was in 1942-43 and 1948, eachcycle lasting several years. (Arthur Clouten’s diary) Prawning in the 1930s When I had my own boat, this was when I was about 18, I used to have a net that Archie Spiersmade me, it was 120 foot long, a prawn net, and I used to put it on the edge of the lake, head outinto the water with the other end, drive in a peg, hang a lantern on it, then we’d go back and siton the shore, and wait for the prawns to run. And then when we saw which way they wererunning around the net, (they normally ran north), then we’d pull the peg out and move the netaround them and we’d get a box of prawns, no troubles. That was over on the eastern side ofthe lake, in between The Entrance and Toukley. We’d do that for years, nearly every day of ourholiday. We’d cook the prawns, have a feed and have a few bottles of beer. and then we’d go tosleep on the shore. (Mick Baker) Prawn hauling at night time in the 1920s and 30s In the 20s and 30s every 150-200 yards along the east side of the lake there would be a prawnerthat hauled to the shore. You would put one wing of the net out in the water and the rest wouldremain in the boat, and then you would watch which way the prawns were running and shoot therest of the net accordingly, then haul the net in to shore around the prawns. You had an old‘slushy’ light, this was a stone ginger beer bottle filled with kerosene, a bit of wire around thetop as a handle, and a piece of chaff bag in the top for a wick, that was your ‘slushy’ light. Wewould do that haul as many times as we could in a night if the prawns were coming. It wouldtake about ¾ hour to do each haul. Some nights you might not even bother, it’s no sense haulingif you can’t see any prawns coming down. Other nights they might be light on and you’d have tohaul many times to get enough prawns. If the prawns were good you might only haul a fewtimes because you can only handle so many prawns because you only have a limited amount ofice and boxes, and you had to have them ready when the transport arrived to pick them up. AtThe Entrance channel you would use a pocket net and I remember Pat and I once getting 600 lbsof prawns there, and we only got four pence halfpenny for the lot. If there was an oversupply,you only got profit from what they sold at the market, less commission, less transport. (PeterClifford)

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Prawning in the 1930s Lots of times in those days the fishermen all went prawning in the summertime because prawnswere the much more profitable thing. I mean at Canton the whole beach would be taken up withprawners. In those days they hauled the prawn net, they didn’t do it the way they do now, andevery 150-200 yards there would be a prawn crew and they would shift the net out, they thendrew them in and they would cook them and put them on racks to cool off during the night, thenthey would be put on the train in the morning and taken to market in Sydney by midday. Thatwas in the 1930s. (Clarrie Wynn) 10-12 boxes a night in the 1930s I remember in about 1937 an inspector saying to me that crews all along that eastern shore ofBottom Lake were getting 10-12 boxes a night, that was all they wanted as that was all theycould handle, in those days you didn’t ice prawns you just chilled them off in the night, then youwould box them up and send them away. It was a funny thing but no one thought of icing themin those days and in lots of cases people got poisoned with them, which was only because theywere hot days. (Clarrie Wynn) Catching prawns for bait - by raking sand A method we used to catch prawns for bait was to go down to the end of Hutton Road with agarden rake. We would walk out into the water, up to our knees, and drag the rake through thesand. This would stir up the prawns and we would catch them in a scoop net. We would alwayscatch enough prawns to go fishing. (Doug Duffy) Raking the sand for prawns Lots of times we didn’t bother to go prawning, if we wanted some for bait, we would go downon the sand in front of Dunleith, pull a rake through the sand and just take what came out of thesand. (Peter Clifford) Prawning at Green Point in the 1930s It was wonderful prawning there when we first went there. The men would go down to thebeach and before long they would come back with a couple of kerosene tins full of prawns andwe’d cook them on the outside fire and then say ‘two four six eight’ and we’d dig into them. Itwas wonderful. (Eileen Brown) Prawning in the entrance channel In the late 30s and 40s we would prawn from a boat in the channel. We had a net 3m wide andwould peg it in the run and on some occasions I had to sit in the boat with my feet on all theprawns, we would have caught so many. They were mostly school prawns. (Doug Duffy) Prawning at Long Jetty in the late 1930s and 40s We used to do the prawning at Long Jetty because Pa had a big trawling net and we’d trawl outthere, of course we’d get lots to eat and also for bait. They were easy to catch. We’d comehome with bucket fulls. (Jean Clarkson) Greasyback prawns plentiful in early 1940s The entrance had been blocked from the sea for most of the time since approximately 1936(until 1942). During this time a large quantity of greasyback prawns were caught in MunmorahLake, but were very cheap, some weeks not clearing expenses. Unlike other varieties they do notneed to go to sea to spawn. It had been the first time for many years that large quantities ofgreasyback prawns were caught in Tuggerah Lakes which always had school prawns which is abetter class and superior in every way. We caught several hundred cases of greasybacks from

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the late spring until about February, in 1941 to 1943. Wynn of Mannering Park was alsocatching large quantities of greasyback prawns at another part of Munmorah Lake and Thomasat Elizabeth Bay getting good catches. These prawns lasted in good quantity until a week beforeEaster. (Arthur Clouten’s diary) Greasybacks in Munmorah in late 1930s and early 1940s In 1937 in the Top Lake, the greasies came there thick, boat loads of them. .... Those prawns inthat Top Lake kept coming in every year until about 1942 - 1943, then they died out. (ClarrieWynn) Large catches in the late 1940s My father still holds the record for the lake and that is 4000 lbs of prawns in one night. Theywere large king prawns and school prawns, that was in about 1948-49. He got one shilling andtwo pence per pound for these prawns at the Sydney markets. The prawns we used to catch whennight prawning would be 3-4 inches. (Trevor Spiers) Few restrictions in 1930s and 1940s In the early period prior to WWII, there was little restrictions on prawn nets. It was legal to usea 90 foot net (27m.). This was the size that my father and his brothers used. …. As a child andthrough to my teens (1940s), catches in excess of 50 kilos were not uncommon. Sometimes thatmany were caught in a single haul. (Gordon Browne) Prawning at Canton Beach in the late 1940s It was marvellous for prawning at Canton Beach in the late 40s. We would go prawning therewith a hand net, and catch buckets full of prawns. It was the same at The Entrance, it used to bea sea of lights at Xmas holidays with all the lanterns from people prawning. (Allan Whitham) Prawning near Green Point in the 1940s Just off Deaves Point (Green Point) used to be the best prawning place, Friday night there usedbe 15-20 people there, they would use one or two nets (10-15 foot long) and go out, drag thenets up and there used to be buckets of prawns, that was in the 1940s. (Glen McKenzie) Prawning at Budgewoi in the 1940s With each haul we would get a kerosene tin full, that was with a 60ft drag net. A kerosene tin is4 gallons. We’d use a 20 or 40 foot drag net, but if there was enough people we’d use the 60foot net. This was in the 40s, during the war. We’d cook them on the beach in an old copperand we’d give some of them away to people who didn’t go prawning because they were too old.From the bridge at Budgewoi towards Buff Point was all sandy and we’d prawn on a beachabout ½ mile from the bridge. (Arthur Sterrit) Prawning at Canton Beach in the late 1940s After the war, there would be quite a few holiday makers prawning at Canton Beach with theirlamp and drag net, a two person net, one at each pole, or they’d have their scoop nets, and itwas most unusual if you didn’t get a feed. You’d see the prawns swimming in the water, andthey’d bump into your legs. There were lots of prawns there and that was one of the bigattractions for the tourists. (Eric Pearson)

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4.3 Prawning in the 1950s and 60s For the holiday maker, prawning continued to be a great attraction of the lakes with good catchesthroughout the 1950s and 60s. For the professional fishermen, the prawns were available in good quantities throughout most ofthe 1950s and 60s, but they had to contend with many changes in the regulations governing netsizes, prawn sizes and prawning techniques. At one stage in the early 1950s, the minimum legalprawn size was increased from 3 inches to 4 inches and the mesh size from 1 inch to 1¼ inches.At the same time the legal sizes on many fish species were also increased and some fishermenleft the industry for a short period to work on the construction of Wangi Power Station on LakeMacquarie. Prawning at Peel St, Toukley in the 1940s, 50s and 60s We used to get wonderful prawns just out here (Peel Street), the catches were good, that was the40s, 50s and 60s. There would be lots of people prawning down here, and it would be a greatatmosphere, a small fire on the beach and lots of lights out in the water. You’d get a good catchbut of course not every night because of the cycles with the moon and other things. (BillHansen) Prawning at Long Jetty and The Entrance Down at Long Jetty, we used to prawn from the jetty and we would put our net over the sidewithout the rails.... That was in the 1950s. ....The best night down there, the son-in-law andmyself, we got about 320 lbs of prawns. Average nights you’d get about 10-12 pounds Isuppose. ....We used to prawn regularly. We prawned there up till some time in the 70s. Thenwe stopped. They’ve died down in numbers now. We’d also prawn at The Entrance, we’d standin the water and you’d see the prawns coming along. I’ve been down there recently and thereare a few prawns still about but not as many. (Harry Taylor) Prawning in Budgewoi and Munmorah lakes in the 1950s In the early years prawning was very good from outside our place right around to Buff Point.There would be large numbers of people and they would start arriving at 5 o’clock in theevening to get the best spots. They would catch baskets full. Elizabeth Bay and the campingground at Budgewoi were also popular prawning spots. (Albert Asplet) Prawning in Lake Munmorah in the 1950s The family would prawn with a drag net when the prawns were running, and everyone would beinvolved. The men would bring the net up onto the shore and we’d all pick out the prawns andany fish that were edible and set any others free. We would catch a kerosene tin-full of prawns.(Janeille Gates) Amateur prawning increases in popularity There were not as many people dragging nets before the war and into the early 1950s. Fromthen on there was a big increase in numbers catching prawns using long drag nets. (GordonBrowne)

View from The Entrance looking north across the channel, September 1927 (Photo; Mitchell Library)

Arthur Clouten was a professional fisherman on the lakes from the 1920s until 1981 when he retired. Beforehim, his father and grandfather were also fishermen.

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Prawning regulations change in the 1950s and 60s When the entrance was re-opened and became a deep channel in the early 50s the school andking prawns returned and as the weed grew in the mid 50s the king prawns disappeared andwere replaced by school prawns. In 1952 prawn size was increased to 4 inches and net size 1.25mesh net and length 75 fathoms. Unable to catch them in commercial quantities fishermen hadto go after fish or ’otter’ trawl illegally. In 1953 legal prawn size was reduced to 3.5 inches anda further concession to fishermen to allow 1 and one-eighth (1.125) inch mesh, therefore theycould catch reasonable quantities again by hauling. In 1959 daylight prawning was made legalfor the first time. In 1960 the prawn net size went back up to 1.25 inches and the size limit onprawns was removed. Illegal trawling became common again as it was difficult to catch prawnswith a 1.25 inch net when hauling by hand. In 1962 the use of a running net was allowed for thefirst time in Tuggerah Lakes. The next development was in 1966 when fishermen were permittedto use launches to pull ‘snigger’ nets, their correct name being trawl nets. (Arthur Clouten’sdiary) Large catches of greasyback prawns in 1967 In 1967, just before Munmorah Power Station started operation, large numbers of greasybackwere being caught in Budgewoi Lake, probably originating from Munmorah. They soon shiftedto the main (Tuggerah) lake where large hauls were made. Greasybacks favour a completelyclosed or very small entrance to the sea whereas school and king prawns spawn at sea and needa large entrance to bring in the spawn. (Arthur Clouten) Prawning at Budgewoi was magnificent The fishing and prawning up until the mid-50s can only be described as magnificent. Althoughwe did not fully appreciate it then how good we had it, accepting the lake’s bounty as norma1.We had a short prawning net which if there was no adult to assist my father in dragging, washeld by me, one pole on shore while my father made a semi-circular sweep. Either way wealways had a plentiful feed of prawns and fresh prawns for the next day’s fishing. Whencampers offered to assist we dragged for longer periods and sometimes half filled a kerosene tinwith prawns and then cooked them in an old copper on the lake shore with a feed for everyone.By the 50s boats were common and many campers had their own prawning nets. (Ray Catterall) Prawning at Toukley, Canton Beach and Gorokan Alwyn; We used to go (prawning) along the Corso (at Gorokan), the section near where the Co-

op is and we would get prawns there, it was sandy and there was just a bit of weed, notenough to bother you. We used to get 2-3 lb of prawns.

Interviewer; You mentioned Canton Beach was good for prawning? Alwyn; Canton Beach was excellent for prawning. The other side of Toukley, behind the hotel

also used to be terrific for prawning even up until the 60s and mid 70s. After that it gottoo weedy and it was too hard work. (Alwyn Quoy)

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4.4 Fishing in the 1950s and 60s All reports of fishing, both from professional fishermen and from recreational fishermen,describe good catches of fish in the 50s and 60s. Arthur Clouten, a professional fisherman,observed increased weed growth and shell life throughout the 1950s after a period in the 1940swhen there had been very little. This provided good habitat for the fish and catches were large.By the early 1960s the weed growth was extensive, particularly stack weed, and there were somereports of slime beginning to appear as well. The weed and slime started to interfere with thehauling of nets. Recreational fishermen did not comment on any problems with weed or slime during the early1960s and have recollections of continuing good fishing. There was a period in the early 1950s when many fishermen left the industry for a short while,but this was a result of the minimum legal sizes for both fish and prawns being increased, andnot necessarily any decrease in abundance of fish. Large haul of bream I can remember going out with dad to a place called Big Bay, near Tuggerawong and we got 80boxes of bream all about 18 inches long, that was when I was about 12 years old so about 1949-50. (Trevor Spiers) Fishing near Buff Point in the 1940s and 50s It was always good fishing. At the big jetty we used to catch mainly blackfish, in the schoolholidays there used to be 15-20 people there all catching fish. That was in the 40s and 50s, itwas terrific for blackfish at the jetty. You would also get blackfish off the rocks around BuffPoint. You would get bream off the jetty as well if you fished with prawns. Off the sandbanksnear Deaves Point (Green Point) you would get a lot of whiting. (Glen McKenzie) Fishing at Canton Beach in 1948-52 The holiday makers did a lot of fishing, and the professionals of course were doing a lot ofnetting. Everybody would usually get a feed of fish, it was rare not to. (Irene Pearson) Spearfishing in the 1950s After World War II when spear fishing first came into being, the sport was mostly confined to thevarious lake systems. This was in general because of an instilled fear of shark attack in the sea.I for one, snorkelled and speared many big luderick in Budgewoi and Munmorah lakes.(Gordon Browne) Good fishing in the 40s, 50s and 60s I used to come with my uncle, and we would go and get big bream between 4-6 lbs. It wasnothing to get 100 bream or so. One of the best places was in the big lake (Tuggerah Lake) onthe Gorokan side near the rocks. We fished from a boat. Of course even then you had to havethe right bait, but they were there in great numbers. We used to get enough fish to cook atbarbecues for 30 people. (Bill Hansen) Fishing at The Entrance in the 1950s When my wife & I were fishing in the 50s we used to go to Pelican Island, generally to the southof Pelican Island. Almost all the time we would come home with enough fish for 2 or 3 mealswhen we fished in that area. It would be mostly flathead and bream and the occasional whiting,

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we used to use the nippers for bait. We also caught blackfish. The biggest flathead I evercaught was 5¼ pound. The majority were pan size, anything smaller we’d throw back. Breamwere never terribly big. The ones we would keep were only just legal length, about 9-10 inches .(Doug Duffy)

Early 1950s - Increased sizes for nets and for fish In 1951 when I returned to Tuggerah Lakes for prawns, we were catching a good quantity ofgreasyback prawns, when about Christmas the Fisheries Dept. rose the size of prawns from 3 to4 inch and mesh size from 1 inch to 1¼ inches. There were very few greasybacks at 4 inches, soI had to put the prawn nets away and start meshing mullet, which was 12 inch legal size andbought a net 3-1/8 inch to catch them. Approximately February 1952, fish sizes were alsoincreased, mullet, which I was catching, from 12 to 14 inches. This made the meshing netobsolete as 14 inch mullet were scarce and the nets would mesh the plentiful 12 inch fish whichwere now under sized. Most fishermen left the Industry for a while, getting jobs at Wangi PowerStation which was being built. Those still fishing continuing the small fish racket. (ArthurClouten’s diary) Arthur Clouten’s fish catches for the period 1953 -1961 year prawns

(lbs) fish

(lbs) Comments

1953-54 1,139 9,925 Weed and shell life start to appear which had been absent formany years

1954-55 5,741 19,690 800 lbs of eels caught in spring 1955-56 6,596 24,461 Good weed and shell life. Entrance 8 feet deep due to flood

in 1954 and fish plentiful 1956-57 5,617 19,090 Total would have been much higher but Fisheries Dept

stopped us from using a backup net to catch trumpeterwhiting.

1957-58 126 43,185 Weed slowly getting better, also Entrance to lake 6 to 8 feetdeep from 1954. Fish so plentiful we only went prawning acouple of nights

1958-59 1,187 33,186 Weed very good in lake, Entrance getting shallow. Goodhauls of luderick which had been absent from lake for manyyears.

1959-60 30 24,200 Weed still good, luderick good. 1960-61 4,446 13,882 Entrance very shallow and weed is preventing the use of

prawn nets. On some days problems with slime reduced thecatch.

Increased legal sizes in the early 1950sI left the fishing business for 12 months in 1951-52, that was when Bill Roughley was inFisheries; he put all the sizes of the fish up by 1 or 2 inches and I thought I couldn’t afford this,I couldn’t make a living out of it. So I got a job during that time at the Wangi Power Stationwhich was being built. They brought mullet up from 12 to 14 inches and bream from 9 to 10inches. When I came back there were a lot of fish about and we did pretty well then. (BillByles) Fishing at Canton Beach in the 50s and 60s In the 50s and 60s we would decide to have fish for breakfast so we’d just go out and catchthem. I used to keep Mrs Buck, she used to have a store here, in supply for her fish store. Iwould catch them from Canton Beach, out at the Step and all along there. I would get flatheadand bream. And garfish (beakies) too. I never used to fish for mullet because you’d only gettwo bob a dozen. (Ernie Quinton)

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Spawning fish move through the channel at The Entrance When we were working on the bridge at The Entrance in the mid 50s, when the fish werespawning and had all come to The Entrance, you could have walked across it, there weremillions and millions of mullet and blackfish. The fellows used to use spear guns to catch them.Others would jag the fish using a rod with about 8 hooks on it and every throw they would get afish. They would just throw the line out and jag them, the fish were that thick that you would getthem every time. (Pat Calphy) Good times and bad times We once caught 130 boxes of fish over a few days near the rocks at Wallarah Point, that was inthe 1960s I think. That included about 100 boxes of good sized bream, and also 15 boxes of verylarge tailor. But then other times we’d be battling. It is a pretty hard life, a lot of night work.(Bill Byles) Trumpeter whiting in the 1960s Tuggerah Lakes had the greatest name for fish life because they were shallow and the sunlightcould get right to the bottom, and they were considered the most profitable lakes. You couldcatch anything, bream, snapper, tarwhine, whiting. One year we had a lot of trumpeter whitingcome in that lake, that would have been getting on to 1960. (Clarrie Wynn) Fishing in Budgewoi Lake in the 1950s and 1960s We did a lot of fishing on our holidays and on weekends up here. We would fish with lines infront of our place (at Budgewoi), either from the shore or in a boat, and also off Buff Point.Most fishing was done in the early morning just before sunrise. We mainly caught bream, andalso flathead and whiting and occasionally eels. Fishing was good in the 50s and 60s but then itslowly got worse. (Albert Asplet) Garfish from Budgewoi Bridge Fishing for garfish off the old Budgewoi bridge was most popular; during holidays the bridgewas often packed with fishers of all ages catching ‘beakies’ (Gordon Browne) Fishing from Gorokan in the late 1950s and 60s We used to get a lot of fish. In the late 50s and early 60s we used to go fishing off the beach inour backyard (at Gorokan). We used to just wander down there and scoop prawns out and cookthem. We used to catch silver bream from the shore also. In the early 60s we also used to catchfish out in the lake from the boat. Most trips we would catch fish. We’d fish off GoobarabahPoint or sometimes off Buff Point. You could go out with the kids early in the morning andbring some small bream home for breakfast. (Margaret Gedling) Fishing at The Entrance in the 50s and 60s Harry; In the 50s and 60s we used to fish a lot. We used to come up in February, firstly for a

fortnight but later we’d come up for 6 weeks . And we’d hire a boat to fish from. Weused to catch all sorts of fish. You could go out in the morning at daybreak and fishuntil 9 o’clock and you’d always get a feed of fish.

Interviewer: What fish would you catch in the lakes? Harry; Bream and flathead mostly. And garfish, tailor, whiting, blackfish, eels, There were

garfish in the lake a couple of months ago. Whiting, used to get heaps of whiting in thenorth channel over there . (Harry Taylor)

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Fish smaller in the 1960s than in earlier years Interviewer; What types of fish are being caught in the lakes now (the early 1960s)? Resident 1; Bream, mullet, garfish, a few blackfish. Note all fish caught are notably very much

smaller than what was caught say 15 years ago (300 licensed fishermen now out ofbusiness). (Resident since 1913 interviewed in 1963)

Second opinion on smaller fish in 1960s Interviewer; What types of fish are being caught in the lakes now (the early 1960s)? Resident 3; Mullet, whiting, bream and few blackfish, although not in sizes as big as they were

years ago. (Resident since 1898, interviewed in 1963)

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4.5 ‘Thickening’ of water caused by schools of fish or prawns A number of the fishermen reported that a useful way of detecting schools of fish or prawns wasto look for a ‘thickening’ of the water. Fishermen would spot these thick patches from the top ofa hill near the lake. When a large school of prawns or fish (such as bream) are feeding on thelake bottom they stir up the mud and the water turns brown. The fishermen would head towardsthese muddy patches and might catch large quantities of prawns or fish. Thick patch caused by fish We’d moor a boat on the haul we wanted to work. We’d often work near Chittaway or the baynear Rocky Point, or in Tuggerawong Bay or near Wyongah, and we would watch the water.When you saw a red patch of water develop, you would put the haul net round it. It would takeyou two days to do the haul because you would put the net out in the middle of the day, then youwould get up the next morning and haul it up. You would catch a lot of fish, you might get 30-40boxes of bream. (Bill Byles) Thickening caused by prawns The school prawns, when you go along in a boat, you might see a brown patch where the wateris discoloured. That is school prawns working the bottom and schooling, ready to go to sea.What you did is you put your net out the back of the boat, it was called 'sniggin'. That wasdaylight prawning. (Ernie Quinton) Thickening caused by fish or prawns Henry: Pat & his father if they saw a little patch of muddy water coming up, we had a net called

the diver and we would shoot the net around it and catch the bream. All you had to dowas walk up the sandhill and watch out for it.

Interviewer: Did the bream bring mud to the surface? Henry: Yes, they would bring a load up. The prawns would too. (Henry Denniss) A prawn ‘boil’ at The Entrance One night in 1985-86 the wife and I were over in the southern channel (south of Pelican Island)in a 15 foot half cabin boat at night time, and the whole of the water in the beam of the roofspotlight erupted with prawns, I have never seen so many. We only had fish landing nets, butmany of the prawns were big and we still got heaps and heaps of them. I haven’t seen a ‘prawnboil’ since then. (Allan Whitham) Thick patches of prawns have gone You don’t see the prawns in the lake the same any more. You used to be able to go out any daywith a nor-easter or a light breeze and you could find these thick patches where the prawnswere. There would be blue water and then these muddy patches where the prawns were. Now ifyou get a nor-easter all the lake is brown, not with prawns but because it is shallow and the mudgets stirred up. (Peter Clifford)

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4.6 Declines in prawning in last 20-30 years In the last 20-30 years there have been many fluctuations in prawn catches, with both good andbad seasons. However, despite the yearly fluctuations in numbers, most recreational andprofessional fishermen described an overall decline in prawn catches over the last few decades. There were a number of reasons suggested. One reason suggested for the decline in greasybackprawns (which breeds within the lakes) was that the spawn was sucked into the MunmorahPower Station and killed by the heat. In the last few years the Power Station has not beenoperating, and some fishermen expect to see the greasyback prawns to increase in numbersagain. The reason suggested for declines in king and school prawns (which breed at sea) wasthat the entrance channel was no longer scoured out by large floods and hence was not deepenough to allow the spawn to enter the lake. Many feel that a deeper, more permanent entrancewould solve this problem. Some people also felt that the introduction of daylight prawning in the 1960s had slowly reducedthe abundance of prawns in the lake and a few believed that the decision to remove a size limit(in 1959) meant that very small prawns were now being caught, not allowing them anyopportunity to spawn. On a positive note, the inlet channel of the Power Station provided a good site for catching verylarge adult king and school prawns. The king and school prawns in Munmorah Lake could notget out through the Budgewoi channel due to the strong current of recirculating water from thePower Station, and hence could not leave the lakes to spawn at sea. They remained in LakeMunmorah, continuing to grow and were eventually drawn into the inlet channel, wherefishermen were allowed to place nets. Good prawning in the 1970s The first year I was professional fishing was good for prawns and I came in at the end of the 6thgood prawn season they had in a row (ie 1973-78). This had been a good time for prawns, wethink, because the previous few years there had been floods in February and March and thathad opened up the entrance a lot and that allowed the prawns and fish to come and go. We werecatching king prawns and school prawns. This was day prawning. (Trevor Spiers) Prawning at Canton Beach in the 1970s There was one old lady and it was nothing for her to go out and catch 15-20 pounds of prawnsjust scooping. You’d feel them hitting into your legs. They started to get less prawns on CantonBeach in the early to middle 70s. (Ernie Quinton) 1980-81 Prawning season 25/4/81; This season prawning for 7 months (Sept to March) and catches were small due to the

'drought' conditions, and the entrance practically closed from the sea. Mostly kingprawns of high quality and high prices producing better return than last season eventhough total catch number was down. (Entry from one of Arthur Clouten’s diaries)

Prawning in 1981-82 season 23/10/81; Since the dredge has been operating, removing a fair quantity of sand near Entrance

bridge, an improved water flow has resulted to and from the sea. This coupled with 3small floods in February, March and May has helped things. There has been a markedimprovement in king prawn catches along the sand hills area. With the running net MrRussell Massey had catches of 15 cases and 12 cases in a couple of nights. It has been

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several years since this kind of quantity has been captured with running nets in the area.Due to the floods, more large king prawns will go back to the sea so next ’darks’ (nightswithout visible moon) should have some excellent catches.

24/1/82. Prawns very good in quantity and quality, 2 large catches being made Friday night(22/1/82) in the Long Jetty area, 1 catch by N. Patterson and Ron Denniss - 52 cases;the other 50 cases nearby by Allan Denniss and Gordon Denniss. These catches wouldbe far more than other catches since the running net was first used in Tuggerah Lake in1963. Many 1arge hauls also by daylight trawling this year. (Extracts from diaries ofArthur Clouten)

Big prawns at Power Station inlet I remember when the power station started we prawned at the inlet and the king prawns wecaught were about 6-8 inches long. They had stayed in the lake because it was too far to get tothe entrance and get to sea. (Trevor Spiers) Prawn catches decline in 1970s and 80s- caused by Power Station? The prawns just aren’t in the same numbers any more, since they put the Power Station in.Something terrible happened to these lakes in the 70s and 80s. (Bill Hansen) The problems of removing the legal prawn size Snigging at daytime; the net is supposed to let the small prawns go through, but if you’ve got anet which is an inch and an eighth, then pulled it forward (such as in snigging) the square meshgets taut and becomes diamond shaped and is effectively a much smaller mesh and so it eithercatches all the small prawns or it squashes the prawns in the mesh as the mesh tightens. Tounderstand that properly, when Dr Dakin (of NSW Fisheries) was head of prawning, youcouldn’t market a prawn less than 3½ inches long. When Dr Racek took over (1959), heincreased the mesh size by an eighth of an inch and removed the size limit on prawns. But hedidn’t realise that the larger mesh size could be used in a way that it would still catch the smallprawns. And he made it legal to catch prawns of any size. (Peter Clifford) Day prawning catches immature prawns In those days (1940s) there was no day prawning it was all night prawning, but now you haveday prawning as well. So you have got virtually 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week when prawns canbe caught and many of the day prawns are immature prawns, they are only small (say 1.5inches) and they don’t get the chance to grow as large as they used to be when we wereprawning. (Trevor Spiers) Problems with daylight prawning Henry: You don't see the prawns like you used to. Interviewer: What has caused that do you think? Elizabeth: Prawns became such a popular thing that they turned around and they allowed

daylight prawning. You were never allowed daylight prawning in those days, youcouldn't go out before 10 o'clock and everyone was happy. With daylight prawning, theprawns used to make a big red patch, and everybody would go, and they would allprawn there, and the prawns would all go. I would say they are killing the prawns. It isonly the silly persons themselves. The prawns are not here now, I don't think.

Henry: When they opened daylight prawning that was the end. Because you can get up on thesandhills here and look out on the lake and see the big red patch where the prawns areand the minute it would start to come up, the boats would go out. (Henry and ElizabethDenniss)

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Decline in prawning and effect of daylight prawning It might be a coincidence, but when the ban on daylight prawning was lifted, there was adramatic decline in the prawn population. The blame was homed in on the amateur prawnerand net sizes were limited to 6 metres. Till this day, prawn numbers have been down on whatthey were fifty years ago. (Gordon Browne) Snigging splits up the schools Snigging in the prawn season from sun up until you decide to go home (ie daylight prawning),keeps the prawns on the move and splits up the schools . (Peter Clifford) Breeding stock needs protecting The availability of prawns must decline as the breeding stock is being exploited at everincreasing depths in the ocean and the maturing stock continuously harvested in the rivers andestuaries. The prawns (except greasybacks) breed in the ocean and supply eggs back into theestuaries by tidal flows. So the big question is, should they close the rivers and estuaries toallow the prawns to reach maturity so that they can move out to the sea to breed, or should theyclose the ocean harvesting so that the prawns are not caught in their breeding grounds, orshould they have a closed season at both locations to protect the breeding season? (PeterClifford) Power House killed the greasybacks ...the power house took the greasybacks. Greasybacks are a prawn that doesn’t go to sea, andthe power house killed the spawn when the water passed through. Well the power house hasn’tbeen working for a few years now and the greasybacks are starting to come back. There were alot of greasybacks last year and the year before. (Mick Asquith) Power Station cooks the spawn We used to get a lot of greasyback prawns in the lakes. The school and king prawns breed atsea and the spawn comes back in, but the greasybacks breed in the lakes. Before the powerstation (pre 1967) we used to get cycles of them. You got plenty of prawns. Then they put thepower station in. The spawn goes through and is cooked there and we got no greasybacks. Thepower station is off now and the greasybacks are coming back. This year we had the most inyears and years. (Arthur Clouten) Prawning; effect of power station From what I have been told, they used to get a lot of prawns in Middle Lake and Top Lake.Since the power station has been there, no prawns. They used to get a few at the inlet that weregetting sucked into the power station. But that is it. And out in the lake there hasn't beenenough prawns to make it worth prawning. Every now and again someone would go up there,some blokes from Lake Macquarie would get a few kilos, a box or couple of boxes for a coupleof weeks. But there hasn't been prawns for any quantity to really worry about, except for theones that got sucked down the channel to the Power Station. The Power Station has been turnedoff a lot now and the greasybacks have come back. .... This year I got 17 boxes in one go. Over300 kilo. That was probably the best single catch I had. Others got 40 boxes but that was morethan one bloke. (Michael Clouten) Prawning no good after power station started Prawning is no good now, it started dropping off after the Power House started. (AlbertAsplet)

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Prawning in Budgewoi and Munmorah Lakes I used to go prawning, but not so much now. We used to work on Canton Beach or in BudgewoiLake on the big sand or on the eastern side of Top Lake. There were a lot more prawns in thosedays than there is today. (Mick Asquith) Coast-wide decline in prawns They haven’t been as thick anywhere in the lakes in the past few years. They aren’t as thickanywhere along the coast really. (Mick Asquith) Prawn numbers down in last few years The last two summers, prawns and fish have not been good in the lake. They had a bad summerover at The Entrance because all the prawns were very small. It was probably one of the worstyears for people scooping prawns at The Entrance, and they were all very small. This isprobably because the entrance channel is very shallow at the moment. In the last two to threeyears the entrance has been shallow. (Trevor Spiers) King and school prawns scarce but greasybacks have picked up School prawns have been scarce in the last three years. King prawns have also been in decline.I do not know the reason for this; some think it is because of the lack of flood rains. Greasybackprawns have picked up in the last few years because of the closing down of the Power Station.Greasyback prawns breed in the Top Lake. When the power station was working the prawns gotsucked through the cooling system and were killed. (Gordon Denniss) Prawning season in 1997 In the 1997 season prawns came just before Easter; before that there was only scattered prawnsand most sniggers and runners either gave up or tried them occasionally to see if the quality orquantity merited working. (Peter Clifford) Prawning not as good today We prawned there (Long Jetty) up till some time in the 70s. Then we stopped. They’ve dieddown in numbers now. We’d also prawn at The Entrance, we’d stand in the water and you’dsee the prawns coming along. I’ve been down there recently and there are a few prawns stillabout but not as many. (Harry Taylor) Prawning in the 1990s When they first started doing the dredging (at The Entrance, as part of the Lakes RestorationProject) we were getting good quantities of prawns. And then in the next few years they droppedright off. In 1994-95 I hardly bothered to go prawning. There wasn't enough to even bother.We went 8 days for the whole year. In about March-April 95 we got a few kingies, no schoolprawns, only king prawns. They must have come in late that year, because at Xmas time youwould only get little tiny ones. This year there was a lot of greasybacks. The first month we gotthem they weren't too bad in size. But after the first month they just didn't seem to grow. We gotplenty of them but they were tiny. Now last year there was a good lot of greasybacks, ofreasonable size, and at the end of last year around March - April we got a few school prawns.But from then back we haven’t had enough prawns to worry about. (Michael Clouten) Lots of small greasyback prawns this year John; Some people have claimed that there are no greasybacks in the lake any more, but just

this year they got big quantities of greasybacks, but they were very small and they gotno money for them. They were getting 15-20 baskets of prawns with one shot of the net.

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A basket is about 25 kilos or 60 lbs I think. They were caught in the big lake at daytime.

Interviewer; Is most of the prawning daytime now? John; Some years, this year it was, because there were no school prawns or king prawns and

those are the species you get at night time. (John Brown) Reasons for decline in prawning At some stage in the 50s or 60s, daylight prawning (by trawling) became common practice. I’mnot certain that this practice helped. We also suspect one of the reasons for the demise of thegreasyback was the presence of the power house and pollutants it might have put in the lake.And also possibly other household pollutants that reach the lake, but we don’t know for certain.Insufficient flow of tidal water also limits numbers of king prawns and school prawns. (DougDuffy) Decline in prawning Prawning used to be excellent, anyone could catch them too. You could get a bucketful ofprawns in about an hour and that is all you’d need. The prawning has definitely declined.(Gordon Bennett) No prawns these days Interviewer: Now did you slowly see a change in the amount of prawns there was? Elizabeth; Oh absolutely, there’s virtually nothing now. (Elizabeth Denniss) Prawning - a decline in numbers but good catches still can occur Interviewer; Do you think in the last 20 years or so they have been catching as many prawns as

they used to in the 1920s and 30s? Peter; No, but the prawns are like everything else, they come and they go, you get the good

times and the bad. For instance Gordon Denniss caught 50 or so boxes a few years agousing a running net. But it would be very difficult to directly compare the catches theyare getting now with earlier times because the gear is so different.. (Peter Clifford)

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4.7 Fishing in the last 20-30 years Nearly all recreational fishermen reported a big decline in fish abundance over the last 20-30years. The professional fishermen, however, explained that the numbers of fish can vary greatlyfrom year to year and the recent decline in numbers might be part of a natural cycle. They alsoexplained that it depends on the species of fish, since one species might decline in abundancewhile another increases. For instance in the last few years they have been catching largequantities of blue swimmer crabs but very few bream. In a few years time the crabs might bescarce but some other fish species might have become more common. However, some of the professional fishermen did agree that there might have been a graduallong term decline in abundance of fish in the Tuggerah Lakes, but felt that this might simplyreflect a general decline on a coast-wide basis rather than anything specific about the lakesthemselves. A few also felt that some sort of decline was to be expected when a natural resourceis harvested, and this was due to recreational fishing just as much as professional fishing. One factor which has a very big impact on the quantity of fish in the lakes is the depth and sizeof the channel at The Entrance. For instance, in the early 1990s, after the channel was dredged,fishermen were catching large quantities of whiting. A large channel allows greater quantities ofspawn and small fish to enter the lake and this is one of the arguments for providing a deeper,more permanent channel. Some argue that the decline in abundance of fish is associated withthe channel being shallower in recent decades, and that this is due to there being very few majorfloods recently, which used to periodically scour out the channel. Good fishing in 1980-81 25/4/81; Bream in good supply, so too was mullet, while luderick not so plentiful due to very

little weed around as well as stack grass not present in Wyong Bay. It was a successfulyear for fulltime fishermen catching daylight prawns and bream, and mullet was moreabundant than average. (extract from diary of Arthur Clouten)

Less fish compared with the 1950s and 60s Today there are very few fish compared with the 50s and 60s. We used to see mullet passthrough the channel at Budgewoi at a certain time of year but you don’t see that any more. Youdon’t see them jumping out of the water as much either. (Albert Asplet) Drastic change in fishing since the 60s Bream, flathead, blackfish, eels, prawns, mullet, garfish, these were plentiful in the 40s, 50s andearly 60s. This has changed drastically since the 60s, fish are so few these days. (Ray Holmes) Decline in fish With more people living around the lakes, the catches of legal sized fish has declined more andmore with every passing year. (Gordon Browne) Anyone could catch fish at one time, but not now Whether the fishing has declined or the people aren’t as good at fishing I don’t know. I knowpeople who can still catch fish. But anyone could catch fish at one time, anyone. (GordonBennett)

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Legal size fish hard to catch now Today, if myself and others who in those days fished with me, should feel up to dragging the boatacross the weed and slime along the foreshore, we can sit for hours and not catch a legal sizefish. (Ray Catterall) Changes in fish abundance and species Flathead used to be beautiful, up to 8-9 lbs in weight, but today the breeding stock doesn’t seemto be there. Also there were huge schools of bait fish, like yellow tail, hardyhead and thosetypes of things, so there used to be huge flocks of pelicans and shags feeding. There used to bebig schools of baby mullet up the creeks and bays and they grew up and came into the open lakein huge numbers as well as mature fish returning from the open sea. (Allan Whitham) Changes in fish species marketed Interviewer; Now in terms of the actual quantity of fish you caught; from the 1930s through to

when you retired, I presume it fluctuated year to year? Clarrie; Yes, you had your good and bad years. But you couldn’t compare it with the fish

today, they are now keeping types of fish that we never bothered with. A lot of the stuffthey put into the boat today we had no market for. We would only take fish like themullet, snapper, bream and stuff like that. I wouldn’t say there is a difference in the sizeof the fish, they are still making a living but out of fish that we wouldn’t put in the boat.We had no market for them, that is the difference. Squid, when I first started fishing youwouldn’t put them in the boat, look at them now, they are top price. (Clarrie Wynn)

Hauling nets impact on fish stocks I do believe commercial netting of prawns and fish has contributed more to the decline in fishpopulations than has the amateur fishing. Before hauling nets were banned from both LakeMunmorah and Budgewoi Lake, line fishing was a waste of time for months after certain areaswere netted. I have seen licensed fishermen run hauling nets across from Colongra Point toElizabeth Bay in Lake Munmorah, with the hauling rope then taken to the beach at Budgewoi.(Gordon Browne) Decline in fishing The fish aren’t as they used to be but there still is fish in the lake. Even the ocean has less fishnow. There’s so many people now and big fishing boats trawling the seas. (Henry Denniss) The good times are scarcer The fish come in cycles and there are highs and lows. But the highs might be getting scarcerand the lows might be getting a bit longer. You don’t get the same numbers of spawning fish anymore, they are being caught all the time. About the only one that has a closure in the lake is theflathead, in December and January. You can catch all the other fish, such as mullet, bream andblackfish, when they are spawning. There is a bag limit, but you can catch 20 bream in fullspawn. And if you come here at Xmas and walk along from the bathing place along to TheEntrance and see how many fish are caught and how many are undersized, you would be luckyto find 10% that are legal size. The professional fishermen have net sizes so that all theundersized fish get out through the nets and spawn at least once. (Peter Clifford)

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Changes in fishing Generally the fish numbers have to decline. It is going to decline just from the increased fishingpressure. They have better gear, better boats, and you also have the pressure from recreationalfishing. In the 20s and 30s, as far as recreational fishing was concerned, you would have a peakin the summer, and another at Easter and that was it. Now you have pressure every weekendand sometimes through the week also. They did an experiment in Lake Macquarie and found outthat the recreational fishermen were taking more fish than the commercial fishermen. I supposewith all the pressure on the fish sooner or later they will have to do what they have done for thetuna and lots of other fish, and go onto quotas. This year has been really bad along the wholecoast for mullet, presumably because the breeding stock have been taken. They will have to dosomething about maintaining the breeding stocks of all species. The same is happening with theprawns. (Peter Clifford) The line fishing is woeful now Believe me, whatever some people tell you, such as You’ve got the wrong bait , You’re fishingat the wrong time or place , Too heavy a line or wrong rig , line fishing in the lakes is nowwoeful. In those early days, mostly fishing in daylight hours, and with primitive cord lines, wecould always rely on returning with a good fish meal - of course some days were better thanothers. Today, if myself and others who in those days fished with me, should feel up to dragging the boatacross the weed and slime along the foreshore, we can sit for hours and not catch a legal sizefish. (Ray Catterall) Decline in fishing There is nothing out there compared to what we were catching then (late 50s and early 60s).They reckon they are still getting them at The Entrance. Well we used to go over to PelicanIsland and sleep in our boat because we’d heard there was fish over there. On the weekend,mates and all. But in the last few years we weren’t picking any fish up at all. That was at TheEntrance near Pelican Island. And over at Eelies, there was a 10 foot hole there, and we used tocatch bream there, but you can’t get them any more. I can sit there for hours and can’t catchthem now. (Ernie Quinton) Increased fishing pressure and increased fishing research Its only the last 10 years or so that Fisheries have become more scientific about it all. That’sbecause we used to have an over abundance of fish. Fisheries would just collect a bit of moneyfrom us for the license and we could do what we liked, no one worried too much. There was thatmany fish here. It is only the last ten years or so that pressure has started to build up andFisheries have decided to get a little more scientific now. (John Brown) Plenty of fish in the lakes still They are saying that there aren’t much fish in the lake at the present time, but last year theywere catching a lot of fish and the year before. My son was catching fish for 13 years (he onlyknocked off last year), they caught as many fish and prawns as I have ever seen caught, theywere catching sand whiting about two years ago, they were catching them up near SaltwaterCreek. ...They did one ‘dig’ and got about 15 boxes of whiting, all sorts, the next day they got 32boxes then the next another 15 boxes, that is a lot of fish. People just don’t realise how manyfish are still being caught. The best we ever got was about 30 boxes of whiting in one haul.(Bill Byles)

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Fishing at Peel St has declined but there’s hope We always had boats here and did lots of fishing. My brother used to drift out in a canoe and itwas nothing to get 15-20 nice flathead. There were also lots of little fish out the front here, suchas mullet, which you could catch for bait. There aren’t as many as there used to be but I thinkthey have fought back a bit and seem to be on the increase, I feel there has been an improvementover the last couple of years. There was a big flock of shags that came by here recently,catching small fish, so that is a good sign. (Bill Hansen) Fish catches in 1998 Interviewer; What about mullet, bream and flathead, do you see cycles with them also? John; Oh yes, every species we see cycles. For instance in the last fortnight, I have caught

more flathead than in any other 2 week period in my fishing career. I have beencatching between 80-200 kilos most days. That is using a flathead net which isspecifically designed to catch flathead. The net goes to the bottom, it is the smallestmesh we are allowed and only 25 meshes high, so it is just designed to catch bottom fish.

Interviewer; What about fluctuations in mullet? John; Yes I think last summer would have probably been the worst. We were still taking mullet

but not as good as other years. Every other year mullet and blackfish were thebackbone of our catch. (John Brown)

More whiting after channel dredged in 1990s The main change I’ve seen (since 1980) is when they did the dredging (in the early 1990s). Afterthey dredged the channel at The Entrance, we got lots of whiting for about 3 years in bigquantities. Before that we used to get a few now and again but not like that. If it hadn’t beenfor the good numbers of sand whiting and blue swimmer crabs, the fishermen would have done ithard, that’s what took us through. (Michael Clouten) Less whiting caught in prawn nets We used to kill a terrific lot of whiting at the start of each season, but now that we havestopped the prawning along the shore, the whiting have returned, they are not beingkilled any more. (Pat Clifford) Fishing in the 1990s - effects of Lakes Restoration Project Before they did all this work (dredging etc for Lakes Restoration Project) we were going outand getting a boat load of mullet. Two or three times a night. ....And there was a lot ofblackfish too. And lots of other types of fish too. Then the weed disappeared and a year after itwent the blackfish were so skinny, they starved. So they went out to sea. And this year is thefirst year there have been blackfish of any quantity. Last year and this year the flathead hasn'tbeen as good as he should have been. The others years he wasn't too bad. They haven’t beenthere like other years, but that could be a seasonal thing too. But the mullet and the blackfishwere definitely affected in a big way. The mullet are nowhere near like they were. But fromwhat you can hear, the mullet are not anywhere on the coast. This is the first year we have seen any quantity of small mullet. You can go out there now, andyou will see big quantities of small mullet 5 or 6 inches, the little flat-tailed mullet. There’s a lotof small bream in the lake now too. Now bream is one thing I always go for, and this year wehave hardly caught any bream in this lake. Last year we got a lot of bream early but not later.......The bream just haven’t been here in any quantity, they haven’t been here for a few years.(Michael Clouten)

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Fish caught this year (1998) Interviewer; What are they catching mostly at the moment (Autumn 1998)? Peter; Flathead and blue swimmer crabs. The mud crabs showed up in Wyong Bay this year

too. The blue swimmers have shown up now for a few years. When we first startedsetting you probably wouldn’t have even got a feed of blue swimmers. They come andgo like everything else. (Peter Clifford)

Good catches of flathead recently but bream are scarce Two or three years ago it was a very good flathead year, this year it has been good and bad.Bream this year were poor, in fact bream haven’t been very good for a few years. Whiting thisyear haven’t been good either but they could come again next year, we don’t know. (PeterClifford) Amateurs keep undersize fish They told me that last week everyone was catching blackfish down off the rocks. They are onlymeant to catch 20 but a lot of them were catching more. I think a lot of problems have beencaused by recreational fishermen, a lot of people keep everything that they catch. They don’tthrow back the small ones. (Peter Clifford) More recreational fishermen these days Where there might have been one recreational fisherman in years gone by, now there might be100. They would also only come here at Christmas or Easter and then a few in September. Nowyou will see 20-30 boats fishing outside (in the ocean), whereas in days gone by people wouldhave to fish off the beach. Another factor is fishing clubs and charter boats. (Peter Clifford) Amateur fishing – another point of view Interviewer; Has the pressure from amateur fishing increased or decreased over the years? John; No it hasn’t increased, we don’t have the real keen amateur fishermen that we used to

have here say 15 years ago. Fisheries put a stop to them by putting on big fines ifamateur fishermen sold their catches to fish shops and restaurants. And in the last fewyears they have also put bag limits on them. (John Brown)

Coast-wide decline in fish It was not just Tuggerah Lakes where fish have declined, they have declined in the Gosford areaas well and there is no professional fishing going on there, so any decline in fish could not bejust caused by professional fishing. (Michael Clouten).

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4.8 Less common species; red bream and jewfish The abundance of these two species is highly dependent on the size of the channel at TheEntrance. If there has been a deep channel, perhaps after a major flood, large numbers of smallfish may enter the lake. If the channel then closes over the next year or two, these species can’tget out to sea and must stay in the lake, but of course continue to grow. It is under theseconditions that large red bream (or snapper) and jewfish have generally been caught. A number of people commented that these species are not as common any more in TuggerahLakes. This could be related to the depth of the entrance channel in recent years, or mightsimply reflect a coast-wide decline. Red bream caught in 1890s In my grandmother’s diaries (Mrs Hargraves), it mentions in the 1890s, at Wallarah Point upnear Toukley, they caught 19 snapper. But we don’t know how big they were, they wereprobably just red bream. (Peter Clifford) Snapper were caught after flood in 1920s Henry: I was fishing with my father as a young teenager (ie. approx 1925). The main fish back

then was bream, whiting & mullet. When there used to be a big flood there would be afair bit of snapper also.

Elizabeth: Normally as soon as they (red bream) are old enough they go out to sea. But whenthe lake is closed, they must stay until we have a flood and the channel opens up again.Then you would get large sized snapper. The snapper would get caught in the lake andcouldn't get out until a flood came.

Henry: I used to fish with Pat and his father and we used to get snapper about 2 feet long. (Henry and Elizabeth Denniss) Lots of red bream when lakes closed Interviewer; What is the biggest amount of red bream that you can remember being caught in

the lake? Henry; It is pretty hard to say. We got a couple of hundred boxes one day, this was when the

lakes were blocked. Other than that if the lakes are open, the red bream leave the lakewhen they are just big enough to send to market. In those days the lake was closed for 4years and the red bream grew nearly into snapper size. (Henry Denniss)

Lots of Cockneys at The Entrance Most of the red bream go to sea just as they get to legal size. But when the lake is closed for anumber of years, they feed up in the lake and get large because they can’t leave. When we werekids we could catch red bream. The fish we used to catch were about ¾ of a pound, they werelegal, I think they had to be 11 inches. Up until about the war (1939) they would be caught onoccasions. And if you walked onto the sand flats from Dunleith to catch whiting, you’d throwyour line in, and would be so many little cockneys (undersized red bream) there, that they wouldget your bait all the time, they were a nuisance. But the cockneys have almost disappeared fromthe lake now. The last time I fished there, which was about 5 years ago, there were none. Thehaulers still show up a few, but in the thirties they would have had dozens. (Peter Clifford)

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Biggest red bream Interviewer; What was the biggest red bream you remember being caught in the lake? Henry; Well a chap by the name of McLaughlin he got one 9 pound in his flathead set net but

that is the biggest one I have heard of. But for average size, roughly 2 pounds would bethe average size of the best ones that were caught in the lake. (Henry Denniss)

Good years in ‘Big lake’ - snapper in the late 30s Interviewer; So when were the good years for fishing in Bottom Lake? Clarrie; We call it Big Lake, well I will tell you what happened there, we came over prior to the

war, about 1937, we were getting hauls there, I think our best haul was 70 odd boxes ofbream, this was at ‘Eelies’ . I remember I went over and the other fishermen were allprawning and we did a haul, and Spirro he was prawning, and he came along and wehad just landed 10 boxes of snapper about 12 inches long, and he nearly fell over. Hesaid when they knocked off two months before to go prawning, they were 9 inches, andthey had grown 3 inches in 2 months. That was how quickly fish grew in Tuggerah,because of the warmth of the water, because the sunlight got right to the bottom. If youpull up mud from the bottom of Tuggerah you would see little shells and pippies whichwere all feed. So that was a good year. We went everywhere, in the Top Lake we got30-40 boxes of bream also. (Clarrie Wynn)

Red bream and jewfish have declined Red bream and jewfish in the lakes have practically disappeared. An odd jewfish is caught onbig tides in. (Peter Clifford) Catching jewfish at The Entrance Interviewer; Did you catch much jewfish in the lake? Peter; You got a fair bit in the early days, but not in great quantities. You could catch them by

line at The Entrance. My dad and grandfather used to fish off a punt anchored in theentrance channel and might catch 5 or 6 in a night. You still get an odd jewfish thesedays. In one of Stinson’s books it describes a group of fishermen who once hauled offPicnic Point near The Entrance and they got a large quantity of fish but they only keptthe best fish, they let all the mullet and blackfish go, and only kept the bream, whitingand jewfish. That was late last century or early this century. (Peter Clifford)

Big jewfish in the lakes In the years when a good entrance was to be had, jewfish was to be had in good supply, thelargest, 113 lbs was caught by Jack Newman, and many were caught at 50 lbs. The last largefish that I caught was in September 1953 being 54 lbs near Tumbi Creek. (Arthur Clouten) Jewfish catches Interviewer; Did you ever catch any big hauls of jewfish? Henry; No I never got a big haul of jewfish, 20 or 30 fish is the most I ever got, Interviewer; What was the biggest size jewfish you’ve caught Henry; About 18-20 pounds (Henry Denniss)

“This photo is looking west at Peel St, Toukley and was taken in late 1947 or early 1948. The fish is a jewfish.These were caught in the lake at night time while bream fishing down near the Toukley bridge. They were notin great numbers, however they offered a challenge with our light fishing gear. The rail-like structure on thebeach behind Valerie (my niece) were net poles. The fishermen would pull their nets onto these poles to dry andrepair their nets. The nets were made of cotton and were often ‘tanned’ to stop them rotting.” (Photo anddescription by Bill Hansen) (Note the sandy shore covered with large amounts of washed up weed.)

Peel St foreshore, Budgewoi Lake in late 1947 or early 1948. Note the sandy shore and the washed up weed,probably ribbonweed. (Photo; Bill Hansen)

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4.9 Fish catches in Lake Munmorah Before the Budgewoi Creek was dredged to improve water circulation for the Munmorah PowerStation, there were shallow sand bars which made it difficult for boats to move through. Theseshallow sand bars also tended to trap the larger fish in the lake and this resulted in LakeMunmorah having a reputation for catches of large fish, particularly tailor and bream. There arealso reports of Lake Munmorah containing large quantities of shell life and this provided goodfood for bream. The dredging of the Budgewoi Channel in the 1960s would have allowed the larger fish to leavethe lake and the catches of big fish are less likely now. Top Lake in the 1920s and 30s The Top Lake, known as Munmorah Lake, was clear of weed and being much deeper wasmainly fished during the winter months, for bream, tarwhine and mullet. Very little fishing wasdone in this lake during the hot weather as it was hard to get to and fishermen usually had to diga channel to get boats in, but it was a good standby during winter months when fish leave theother shallow lakes for the deeper water of the rivers or the tidal waters of The Entrance.(Arthur Clouten) Big bream in Munmorah The bream in Top Lake always used to be about 18 inches or so. Always big bream. (Henry Denniss) Bream in Lake Munmorah - before the Power Station Before they put the Power Station in (pre 1967), me and Jobbo could go up there and get 10boxes of bream in a night just where they put the inlet channel in. After they got it going youcouldn’t do that. (Arthur Clouten) Big fish in Lake Munmorah The fish used to get locked in there (Lake Munmorah), that was before the power station came,and the channel at Budgewoi used to block off and the fish couldn’t get out (we had a couple ofdry years), and it had the biggest fish in it along the coast. Tailor weighed 28 lbs, can youimagine that, you couldn’t get in the water with them, they would have taken a piece out of yourleg. Bream too, used to be longer than the box, about 20 , and big tarwhine also, you had to seethem to believe them. But since the Power Station has come they have cut the channel deeperand they are not locked in. (Clarrie Wynn) Big fish in Lake Munmorah A lot of the time the fish you would catch in Munmorah Lake would be bigger than those in theother lakes because it was deeper and you would get fish that would stay and not leave tospawn. I remember dad saying years ago they would go up there with a hauling net and catchhuge tailor that were up to 16 pound! You don’t do that now though. (Trevor Spiers)

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Good fishing in Lake Munmorah We always fished close to the shores, within 100 metres or less and never went away without agood catch of fish, mostly tarwhine, black bream, and the occasional whiting, flathead,leatherjacket and tailor. Plentiful garfish and long toms were mainly left for the children tocatch off the bridge or jetties. We occasionally caught eels and stingray which were releasedimmediately. Mullet was plentiful but could not be caught easily by line. We never fished forluderick but believe they were plentiful in the channel and creeks. (Ray Catterall) Big tailor and mulloway in the 1960s We once caught 130 boxes of fish over a few days near the rocks at Wallarah Point, that was inthe 1960s I think. That included about 100 boxes of good sized bream, and also 15 boxes of verylarge tailor. A lot of people won’t believe this but the tailor weighed up to 15 pounds, so didthe mulloway. These fish had probably dropped out of the Top Lake. (Bill Byles) Whiting, flounder and tailor in the 1940s There was lots of whiting and flounder, and tailor up in the Top Lake, We caught some verylarge tailor in Top Lake on occasions, up to 6 and 7 lbs. A lot had roe on them also. (BillHansen)

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4.10 Problems of comparing fish catches of 50 years ago withtoday

In theory, trends in the abundance of fish should be reflected in the catch data collected by theFish Co-ops and by NSW Fisheries. However, there are a number of variables that make thecomparison of fish data from recent years with that of 50 or 60 years ago, quite difficult. Someof these are: • The fishing gear has changed. The boats are faster, the nets are lighter weight and require

less maintenance. In early days, crews of 4 - 6 fishermen were needed to haul the nets in byhand and they would also need a couple of days per week for net maintenance. Today manyfishermen work by themselves, have motorised winches and can work 7 days a week if theywish;

• Mesh sizes, net lengths and the types of nets used have changed;

• Fishing techniques have changed, for example prior to the 1960s prawns were caught byhauling along the shores at night time, but now they are caught at night time using runningnets and also at daytime by snigging;

• Not all fish would pass through the Sydney markets, some were sold directly to shops, hence

Fisheries data does not necessarily reflect the total catch. The same type of problem occurswith Co-op data, since not all fish caught in the lakes would pass through the local co-ops,particularly if fishermen from other districts, such as Lake Macquarie, visit the Lakes;

• Large fluctuations in catch data for some species of fish, such as mullet or blackfish might

not reflect the abundance of the fish in the lakes but simply the price fluctuations. If mulletfor instance, is not attracting a good price at the markets, fishermen might not bother tocatch it even if it is plentiful;

• A wider range of species are now caught. Some species that fishermen had not bothered

with in the past, are now caught and marketed at high prices.

• The number of fishermen fishing on the lakes has changed over the years; • There is a significant fraction of the catch taken by recreational fishermen and little data is

available regarding this catch, and there is no information about how it might have changedover time.

Comparing fish catches is difficult It is hard to compare the amount of fish caught 50 or 80 years ago with what we catch becausewe have different methods, and different nets, lots of things are different. (Michael Clouten) Many reasons for difficulty in comparing fish catches Some reasons why data would be unable to give the true facts of estuary fishing and prawning.Prawns and fish can vary from year to year by entrance to sea changing from large to small,weed growth large to non existent, changing of fishing and prawning regulations by FisheriesDept, illegal catching of undersized fish which are sold direct to buyers and no records of these,and the alteration of fish and prawn size by Fisheries Dept over the years. (Arthur Clouten’sdiary)

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The true facts about fish catches Now the true facts are as follows. During the last ten years (1951-61), two of the three lakeswere closed against the use of the hauling net. This net had been reduced from 1500 yards to1100 yards, sizes of mesh increased, all fish sizes were increased so that a greater proportion ofthe catch had to be thrown back in the water. Meshing nets size increased. Tailor which had nosize limit went up to 12 inch, then on top of this several fishermen who were large catchers, gottoo old and were replaced by men who catch very small catches by set nets. (Arthur Clouten’sdiary from 1961) Differences in fishing gear Interviewer; Do you know any differences in the species, size, or quantities of fish from the time

your father went out fishing in the 1920s, to the 1970s when you were a professionalfisherman?

Peter; There aren’t any differences in terms of fish but there are differences in the type of gear.The nets and ropes have changed. The synthetic nets don’t have to be dried or tannedand don’t rot. The old cotton nets had to be dried, repaired and tanned. Nowadays withsynthetic ropes the gear isn’t as heavy either. The improved gear (with lessmaintenance) makes the fishing week as long as you desire. (Peter Clifford)

Prawning techniques have changed For prawning they now use a running net at night that is placed out from the bank. As theprawns move up or down the lake, the net is set accordingly, so they hit the net and travel alongit. At the end of the net you have the boat anchored and the prawns are collected by going backalong the net, taking both lines and shaking them up to the boat and tipping them in. They dothat because it is easier and much more productive than the old hauling technique because theycan do it right out at the ‘step’. They use a net that is about 75 yards long, or three strips. Theold hauling nets for prawning were about 150 yards long. They now also use ‘sniggers’ at daytime. (Peter Clifford) Fishing gear has improved When I started fishing (1930s), the only net you could buy in those days was cotton net or linenthread net. There was no such thing as a nylon net. On Thursdays you would have to knock offand then you’d spend Friday tanning and mending your nets, then you would go back to work onSunday. Then the nylon net came on the scene and you wouldn’t have to dry it and you can thenwork 7 days a week. You can go out hauling in the day time and have your other net on and goout at night. That is the difference now you don’t have to worry about your gear. Now when wewere hauling, we’d often have one of the ropes break and you would spend your time fixing it,but now you have this synthetic stuff it will last you for about 40 years. Now they havepolyethylene net and it is even better than nylon. (Bill Byles) Better prices for prawns provides more incentive Interviewer; Is the gear better now, so they are going to catch them more easily? Peter; If you got 10 boxes in years gone by, and sent them to Sydney you hoped they were sold

and would get almost nothing if they were. Today if you sent 10 boxes to Sydney nowyou might get $1000 as there is a bigger demand now. There is more money inprawning now. (Peter Clifford)

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5 Other marine species

5.1 Jellyfish Most of the people interviewed commented on the very large numbers of jellyfish (or ‘blubber’)that used to be in all three lakes. The three species most commonly mentioned were the saucerblubber, sausage blubber and the man-of-war. Sometimes the professional fishermen would have problems hauling in their nets due to hugequantities of jellyfish caught in them. The jellyfish appear to have been plentiful until about theearly 1970s. In the last 20 years very few jellyfish have been seen in the lakes. Many fishermenbelieve that the jellyfish declined in numbers a few years after the Munmorah Power Stationcommenced operation in 1967. The channel would be full of blubber Interviewer: Jellyfish? Did you always get jellyfish in the lake. Elizabeth: The lake used to be full of it. My grandfather used to say ’We are going to have a

good season, the jellyfish are here’. The big old jellyfish with the big long legs. Thencame the saucer blubber and then came the sausage one.

Henry: Sometimes the channel would be full of blubber. It would get in the net all the time. Elizabeth: There is no blubber on the lake now. Henry: It used to come in times before, but now there is something in the water all the time that

is stopping them. The eggs aren’t surviving now. There would be no blubber in sightone day and then a little while later you would see little ones all over the lake.(Elizabeth and Henry Denniss)

Jellyfish in the 1940s I remember when we used to swim that blubber was a curse on the lake, the Saucer blubber.The lake used to be full of them but they didn’t sting and we used to swim amongst them, thenafter a couple of years the Man-O-War arrived, they must have come in through the entrancechannel, that would have been towards the late 1940s. When the Man-O-War’s came the Saucerblubber disappeared. (Glen McKenzie) Man-of-war, saucer blubber and sausage blubber Blubber species varied year from year. Some summers there were large numbers of man-of-war blubber in the lake system making swimming a nightmare. Prawning with the 90 ft. netsbecame hard-labour, by catching hundreds of kilos of these blubber. These stinging blubbermade it essential to wear long trousers to protect the legs. The following year, this type ofblubber could be in small numbers, but the saucer blubber numbers could be up. At times thewater was almost a solid mass of saucer blubber. I do not recall which years, but I remember acouple of summers when it was sausage blubber that was the menace for prawners. (GordonBrowne) Lots of jellyfish in the 1950s I remember very large quantities of jellyfish in the water in Lake Munmorah in the 1950s.(Tom Wallace)

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Plenty of jellyfish in the 1950s Interviewer; When you started fishing in the 50s did you see jellyfish? John; I sure did! I can tell you some terrific stories about jellyfish and what they used to do to

us, there were lots in those days. Interviewer; When did you see them start to decline in numbers? John; I think the power house has got to be 25 years or a bit older. Now this is only hearsay,

the power house had lots of trouble because there were massive amounts of jellyfish, aguy told us one time when we were prawning the inlet canal, .... he was with Fisheries,and he maintained that they could kill the jellyfish whenever they liked. But he didn’tsay how. A few years after that they vanished and didn’t return. Recently, about threeyears ago we did have some of the saucer blubber in the lake. But we don’t see thelarge one with legs any more. (John Brown)

Jellyfish in Wyong Creek in the 1950s and 60s When we were kids say in the 1950s 1960s, sometimes Wyong Creek was absolutely white withthem (jellyfish). Tons of jellyfish would also be dragged out by the prawning nets. We don’t seethat now. (John McPherson) Jellyfish in prawn nets in the 1950s We used to prawn down at Long Jetty in the 1950s, we used to sometimes get a net full ofblubber, but you don’t see any blubber in here now. (Harry Taylor) Lots of jellyfish under Budgewoi bridge in the 1960s The jellyfish were there, sometimes lots of them. I haven’t seen them for a while. When a youngteenager (1960s) I remember lots and lots of jellyfish under the Budgewoi bridge. We used toswim from the bridge and sometimes we couldn’t because there were too many jellyfish. (Janeille Gates) Plenty of jellyfish in Ourimbah Creek in the late 1960s Years ago, just after we were married (in 1967), there was so many jellyfish in the lake andOurimbah Creek that you virtually couldn’t go in to swim. (Trevor Spiers) Jellyfish and other creatures in Budgewoi Lake There have been no blubber since the power house started. It was one of the first things todisappear. We also used to see stingrays, and the occasional crab and small octopus but wedon’t see them now. We would also see eels after floods, perhaps because they got washed downfrom the creeks. (Albert Asplet) Jellyfish were a menace to sailing Well we don’t see them any more, they used be very prolific, in fact they were a menace whenwe went out sailing because they would get themselves caught around the fin and around therudder. The last time I think we saw them in large numbers was in the 60s. I don’t know whathas caused their decline but I do know the lake has suffered from all the pollution that has comefrom the dwellings. (Arthur Sterrit) Jellyfish were plentiful until the 1960s I wish to make a point which I consider of great importance. In those early years jellyfish werein abundance and we would observe a great many large and small float by while we wereanchored fishing. I believe that their disappearance from the lakes at roughly the time of theconstruction of the powerhouse in the early 1960s coincided, along with residentialdevelopment, with the decline of the fish available for the amateur angler. (Ray Catterall)

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Blubber jumping Interviewer: Did there used to be lots of jellyfish? Ernie; A ton of it. One night I worked with the pro-fisherman, they used to have to put on a

‘swimmer’, which is a big net, and when we got the prawns you’d tip them into the‘swimmer’ because you had to sort the jellyfish out of it. I was doing what was called‘blubber jumping’ I had a long scoop and I’d take the jellyfish out. I worked from 9-30at night to 7-30 in the morning ‘blubber jumping’, That night we caught 33 boxes ofprawns, a box is about 60 pounds. We caught them at Eely (Eel Haul Bay) (ErnieQuinton)

Man-of-war became hard and legless We used to say, the thicker the blubber, the man-of-war I’m talking about, the more fish therewere, but since they started the Power Station there have been none. We started to notice thatthe man-of-war blubber was getting hard, and then it would have no legs and then itdisappeared. A few have got into the lake since but they haven’t lasted long, we reckon it wasthe Power Station, perhaps the changing of the temperature of the water that killed them. In theearly days the blubber would be everywhere you’d have to push the cork line on the net down tolet all the blubber out. (Bill Byles) Jellyfish disappeared Gordon: There were always jellyfish, sometimes they would be thicker than others, they weren’t

box jellyfish but they would sting just the same. They seemed to come and goseasonally. Once we got a glut of half crown jellyfish, they were like a jelly likesausage. There were some saucer shaped ones too.

Interviewer; Have you seen jellyfish recently? Gordon; Not recently. They seem to have disappeared. There were a lot in the early 1960s, my

son Stuart just about walked on water there were so many. (Gordon Bennett) Jellyfish have gone since early 1970s There haven’t been many jellyfish in the lakes since the early 1970s. (Gordon Denniss) Jellyfish declined in late 1970s In 1974 we were living at The Entrance and would take out a small sailing boat. Thecentreboard of the boat would hit the jellyfish as we sailed along. The jellyfish disappearedafter this, in the late 70s or early 80s and some people think it was due to a large number offloods and high rainfall during this period. There have been a small number of jellyfish returnto the lakes in the last couple of years but nowhere near the numbers there used to be. (TomWallace) Lots of jellyfish coincided with large fish catches Every time there’s been record catches years ago there was lots of the stinging blubber but nowthere’s none. There used to be thousands of the stinging blubber in the lakes. (Arthur Clouten) Jellyfish - they used to come in like sago I haven't seen it (jellyfish) for twenty years. They reckon that when the Power Station started(in 1967) they put something in the water and that killed the blubber but I don’t really know. Iremember standing on the bridge and it would come in like sago. It comes from the ocean butyou don’t see it coming in any more. They might only see 2 or 3 head of blubber this year. (PatClifford)

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Jellyfish have gone Interviewer; What about jellyfish, have you seen changes in jellyfish numbers since the 1920s

and 1930s? Peter; There are none now. You could walk down on the wharf to swim and if the tide was

running out you would have to wait to see a place to dive in between all the jelly fishthat were floating past. There were lots of different ones, brownish red ones, grey blueones. You had to know which ones stung the worst. They used to be very thick. Weused a stick to get them out of the nets when hauling. You’d push the cork line downand let the blubber go over the top of the net.

Interviewer; So when you started fishing in 1976, did you have problems with the blubber then? Peter; No, it had gone. There was a bit of saucer blubber in the lake but that was about all.

(Peter Clifford)

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5.2 Crabs A number of people, particularly professional fishermen, commented on the very large numbersof blue swimmer crabs that have been in the lakes in the last 3-5 years. Such large numberswere considered unusual and had not occurred for about 40-50 years. Mud crabs had also beenquite common in the last few years. A few people commented that the number of crabs in thelakes depended on the size of the opening at The Entrance. If there was a large opening, morecrabs would move into the lakes. Crabs used to be thrown away ...when you used to walk along the shore here you would see rotting crabs everywhere becausethe fishermen used to pick them out of the nets and just throw them up in the bush. They werenot popular with the fisherman because it takes hours to take the crabs out of the net. (HenryDenniss) Lots of crabs in the 1930s Once we had a glut of blue water crabs in the late 1930s, I used to go down after school toLong Jetty with a scoop net and get 12-18 crabs with the net. (Gordon Bennett) Nippers have virtually disappeared I used to catch nippers (east of the bridge) in the 40s & 50s. That was the pink nipper, but theyhave virtually disappeared now. (Doug Duffy) Blue swimmer crabs plentiful again Years ago, in the 30s or 40s I think, they (crabs) were thick, the Blue Swimmer Crabs. And thenthere weren’t as many until just the last 3 or 4 years when they were very thick again. Martin(Bill’s son) was coming in every day with anything up to 10-12 boxes, and one day 23 boxes. Afew weeks ago they were disappearing again and they were getting just a couple of boxes a day.(Bill Byles) Lots of Blue swimmer cabs and mud crabs in last few years They (crabs) normally don’t belong to this place, just every 30-40 years they appear. Iremember when I was a kid, there would be loads of dead crabs in the bulrushes along the edgeof the lake that the old fishermen had caught and thrown out. There was no market for them inthose days. But in my early fishing there were very few until the last 4 years when we have seenthem again, both mud crabs and blue swimmer crabs. And this year the blue swimmers havestarted to drop off again. (John Brown) Deeper channel increased crab catches You might have heard about crabs in the lake. There is blue swimmer crabs in the lake. Whenthey did all the dredging and put the bigger channel in there, about 1992 or 93 .....we started toget a lot of blue swimmer crabs, ... we were getting half a ton of blue swimmer crabs. Now if Ihad went back through all the years before 1992-93, I wouldn't have had a 100 kilo of blueswimmer crabs out of this lake all up. You couldn’t get enough crabs to get a feed previously.....There has been a few more mud crabs this year too. (Michael Clouten)

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Blue swimmer crabs in recent years For the last 4 years we had huge numbers of blue swimmer crabs in the lake, the numbers areslowly dropping off now as they get caught by the professional and amateur fishermen. Theywere in huge numbers. Amateurs were allowed 20 each, and I would go out with a mate of mineand use hand lines and we’d have 40 in a couple of hours. And the pros would be weighing inup to 200 kg of blue-swimmer crabs. I can never remember blue swimmer crabs being that thickbefore, but perhaps they were once in the days before my time. (Trevor Spiers) Crabs in the 1990s In the last few years they have had blue swimmer crabs, crabs up there in the last 2-3 years havebeen extraordinary. (Clarrie Wynn)

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5.3 Shellfish Quite a few of the professional fishermen reported a decline in shell life in the lakes. Thirty toforty years ago shell life was abundant but then slowly started to die off. A few commented thatshell life had started to increase again in the last couple of years. One of the retired fishermanremembered a similar loss of shell life in the late 1930s and early 1940s when the lakes wereclosed to the sea for much of the time. At the same time much of the seagrass also died off andthis was attributed to the decrease in salinity of the lake water. Shellfish decline - possible effects of the Power Station? Mick; They (the Power Station) killed the stack weed and the shell life and everything. Interviewer: So there is less shell fish (in Budgewoi Lake)? Mick; What we call bream shells, they all died. Interviewer: Has that affected the bream then? Mick; It can’t have helped. All the shells died in Munmorah also. (Mick Asquith) Shell life in the lake As a kid we used to see heaps of cockle shells and mussel shells along the east side of the lakenear North Entrance, and then they disappeared. They only started to slowly reappear recentlyand this year on ‘big flat’ there were as many cockles as I’ve ever seen since I was a youngfella. (John Brown) Cockles in Top Lake It (Top Lake) had a lot of those little cockles, and that is why I think it was such a good breamdig, because they lived on these. Always chomp, chomp. That is why Top Lake consisted of suchbeautiful bream. (Elizabeth Denniss) The bream pippies are returning. I’ve just been speaking to Gordon Denniss concerning shellfish and he says the bream pippiesalmost died out a couple of years ago but are coming back. He also said there were cockles inTop Lake and that they are staging a comeback. (Peter Clifford) Decline of shellfish As a keen shell collector, I have noticed particularly the decline, in fact, the completedisappearance of molluscs in the lakes. Fifty years ago the lake bottom was alive withthousands of creepers - I haven’t seen a single live creeper for many years - twenty at least.(Vivienne Donnelly) Live cockles are rare I haven’t noticed any change, except for the cockle; you still bring shells up of him, but Ihaven’t seen a live one for years. It would be 40 years or more that alive ones have beenscarce; he looks like a miniature giant clam. (Trevor Spiers)

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Shell life also died off in the early 1940s It was in 1938 that the entrance to the sea was blocked off. Now the weed in the lakes are saltwater weeds. Not only did the weed die but all the shell life died too. .....The water became toofresh and killed the weed and all the millions of shellfish. The last bit of weed in the lake wasJanuary ’41. The lake foreshore became hard sand, it only took about 3 months. You wouldn’teven leave your footprints in the sand. Fish became very scarce and fisherman had to catchundersize fish to exist or go to other estuaries. I spent most of my time in that period, at theManning River & Forster. The weed started to come back in 1953 and by 1955 there was somevery good weed, and some silt started to return, and large catches of fish & prawns. (ArthurClouten’s diary)

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5.4 Other species Anecdotes about stingrays, eels and octopus were provided by many of those interviewed.However it is difficult to determine whether there has been any long term decline in thesespecies. A few fishermen believed that the size of eels caught had declined over the years,possibly because eels are a very slow growing species. There were also reports about sharks waiting off The Entrance for fish and eels to enter the sea.Other species described were sandworms, and a type of cungevoi that has only been sightedrecently. Eels are declining in size They (eels) weren’t any use commercially until about ten years ago when the live export marketstarted up. I specifically target eels, they are trapped, using fresh mullet in a trap. ....When Ifirst started the eels were 5 foot long or 10-12 kg in size, but now they are three foot long andonly a couple of kilos. They grow slowly and they just aren’t growing to the size they used tobefore being caught. (John Brown) Eels in Colongra Creek What my father and uncles referred to as ‘Conga’ eels were also common in Colongra Creek. Ifmullet hadn’t stirred the muddy bottom and the water was clear, these monster eels were easilyseen around logs and many would have measured 1.5 m long and up to 15 cm thick. (GordonBrowne) Stingrays They (stingrays) are not as thick as they used to be, I don’t know whether the fishermen havekilled them out or something else has changed. He’s a bottom fish, so I don’t know if all the siltin the lake has chased him or what. (Mick Asquith) Stingrays in Colongra Creek We used to go up to Colongra Creek and the water was so clear you could see right to thebottom, there were big stingrays in there. There used to be dozens of them up there, I don’tknow if they were breeding, but there were lots of them. (Bill Hansen) Stingrays moving up the creeks Lots of stingrays used to come up the creek also. Still do see some come up the river, saw somethis year in fact. The water was very clear earlier this year due to the dry weather and I sawsome in the creek swimming upstream. (John McPherson) Octopus depend on large entrance channel Some years you don’t see any (octopus) and other years you see them, it all depends on theentrance, if it is a good entrance you see them. Same with the squid. (Mick Asquith) Octopus under every rock You don't see the octopus as much either. Under every rock or tin there would be a little ocky init. (Elizabeth Denniss)

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Sandworms from Canton Beach We used to get sand worms at Canton Beach, either pop or dad showed us how to dig down inthe sand above the water mark until we found where drift weed had been covered, if this layerhad been there long enough there would be worms 4-5 inches long, not unlike garden worms,except they were pink headed and creamy pink in colour and excellent whiting bait. (PeterClifford) Sharks waiting for eels It doesn’t take nature long to bring food sources and predators together. Eels began to leave inFebruary and the bronze whalers were there to meet them. Our families (the Clifford’s andDenniss’s) would fish for them. (Peter Clifford) Eels taken by sharks at The Entrance Eels; I can remember on one particular occasion sitting in the boat in the channel with Dad andwe had the net out, and every now and then you would hear a terrible crunch, and that was ashark taking an eel. The eels used to flow out of the lake in great quantities and the sharkswould wait for them. There used to be a lot of eels. I don’t know how many eels are in the lakenow. (Doug Duffy) Oysters at The Entrance Henry: There was an oyster lease here too. Interviewer: In the lake there was an oyster lease? I have never heard of that. Elizabeth: There were 2, on the flats near Terilbah Island. When the lease was gone we used to

go down there and get them by the bag-full. It is only since they put the new channelthere that we have lost our oysters. (Henry and Elizabeth Denniss)

Oyster leases Grandfather Denniss (owner of all of North Entrance before it was subdivided) had a lease onthe west side of Terilbah Island in about 1914. (Peter Clifford) Cungevoi I was talking to Cliff a few days ago and he was saying he couldn't pick his net up. It wasblowing and he went back out, if you got picked up in the wind, your net cabled. I asked himwhat fish he caught, he said No I only got a bit of cungevoi. I have never heard of cungevoi inthe lake before. (Elizabeth Denniss) Cungevoi There is also something in the lake and in the rivers growing on sticks that looks like a whitecungevoi and I’ve never seen that before. It has only been there in the last 2 to 3 years. Theygrow on rope in the water too. (Trevor Spiers)

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6 Opening of the channel at The Entrance The only connection between the lakes and the ocean is a small channel at The Entrance. Thisresults in a restricted interchange of water between the lakes and the ocean, and very little tidaleffect. The channel is in a continuous state of change due to the deposition and subsequenterosion of various sandbars and spits. The channel is now kept permanently open by continuous dredging of the sand bars that slowlybuild up across it. Under natural conditions the channel would slowly block up and could remain closed for up to ayear or more. Eventually a large flood would burst over the sandbars and scour out the channel.This was often expedited by local residents who lived in low lying areas around the lake shores(eg Tacoma) and whose houses were being flooded. They would come across to The Entrancewith shovels and dig a small channel until the water cut through and rushed out. The suddenrelease of water during these floods would wash all of the sand out of the channel and for awhile the entrance channel would be much wider and deeper than usual. When the channel used to block up, the fish and prawns that spawn at sea could not leave andwould continue to grow within the lake. During these periods catches of larger fish wereobtained, including good sized snapper which normally leave the lake while still quite small.The lake closure would also tend to favour the greasyback prawns which spawn within the lakes.During large floods, the fish would congregate in large numbers at The Entrance, waiting for thechannel to open up and allow them to escape to sea. Once the channel started to flow, localswould line up along the banks and scoop up bag-fulls of fish as they rushed past. After a largeflood, and when the lake had returned to its normal level, the fishing was often very good due tothe deep, wide channel which allowed easy access to both fish and prawns. As the channelstarted to silt up again, access for fish and prawns would decline. In the late 30s and early 40s the channel is reported to have been closed for much of the time,including a continuous period of 2-3 years. At the same time there was a decrease in abundanceof both seagrasses and shell life and one fisherman attributed this to the decrease in salinitycaused by the channel closure. Channel closed in late 1930s so weed and shell life died You need a big entrance and tonnes of weed and then your catch goes up. It was in 1938 thatthe entrance to the sea was blocked off. Now the weed in the lakes are salt water weeds. Notonly did the weed die but all the shell life died too. The water became too fresh and killed theweed and all the millions of shellfish. The last bit of weed in the lake was January ’41. .. Fishbecame very scarce and fisherman had to catch undersize fish to exist or go to other estuaries....(Arthur Clouten’s diary) Channel blocked in early 40s Once it was blocked for 3 years and there were lots of fish in the lake, that was about 1940 Ithink, I can’t remember exactly. There were little squire in the lake and they were really thick,bream were the same. (Bill Byles) We dug out the channel during the 1942 flood About May 1942 rain rose the level of the lake, the water too high to use the hauling net, withthe entrance completely blocked by sand. Bruce and I decided to spend a couple of days bikeriding. We went to Tamworth, when we got there the rain started again, so we caught the trainback to Gosford and rode back to Wyong, the water was over the road to Tacoma. The next day

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with several other fishermen we went to The Entrance with shovels and opened up the entrancechannel. The entrance had been blocked from the sea for most of the time since approximately1936. (Arthur Clouten’s diary) A deep channel increases fish catches The more open the channel is the more salty it is and the more fish you’ll get and the more blueswimmer crabs you’ll get too. (Michael Clouten) Large channel allows jewfish into the lake When they have a good entrance the jewfish would come into the lakes in big quantities but theyhaven't been there for years because the entrance is too small. (Arthur Clouten) Blocked channel stops fish going to sea Many of the fish go to sea, but if the channel at The Entrance blocks, the fish can’t leave andthey keep growing in the lake. There is so much feed in there that the fish seem to grow veryquick. (Pat Clifford) Bigger fish when channel closed There have been big cycles in the numbers of prawns caught, a lot of it is controlled by whatsort of entrance channel there is. If it is closed for awhile, I can remember Dad saying it wasclosed for three years at one stage. When it is closed for a while, little fish such as the redbream that are in the lake they can’t leave and will keep growing until they are quite large. Thegreasyback prawns do well when it is closed too. But if it was to stay closed, then you might fishthe lakes out. When it closed people tend to catch bigger fish because the fish can’t leave, butthe problem is that it might be fished out because there are no others coming in. (TrevorSpiers) Catching fish when the channel is closed The sea entrance to the lakes used to silt up and fish being denied access to the sea could bepicked up by hand, and I remember efforts by residents to re-open the entrance manually. (RayCatterall) Mullet going to sea On the old wharf, before they built the new bridge, I’ve seen the mullet waiting to go out to sea,and you couldn’t put a pin between them, and as soon as they opened up the lake, there wereblokes down at the entrance channel with nets and they were catching them by the hundreds.(Mick Baker) The Entrance channel - scoured wide after floods Interviewer: You mentioned the entrance would close off quite regularly. It would be

completely closed to the ocean at times. For how long would it stay closed? Elizabeth: We would have to wait for a flood. It could be 2 or 3 years. And everyone would

come down and dig it out. If we got a decent flood our house would be just about underwater. North Entrance would be practically under water. Then when it went, all thesand went to sea and the channel would stay there for years. ..... In those days ErinaCouncil didn’t care whether it was blocked or not. ... Everybody opened it themselvesin those days. ..... You know where the caravan park ends, well there used to be abathing shed there and used be to a wharf and that. We used to open it from there andin two days with the rush of water, the channel would be open from there right across tothe other side. .... But the sand would slowly work back across. The sea would bring itin. It would slowly grow across. (Elizabeth Denniss)

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Fish grew large when entrance channel closed Elizabeth: When it was closed the amount of fish you’d catch was huge because nothing could

get out. Henry: All the bream that is in the lake .. they go to sea. But when the lake was closed we’d be

getting big sized bream. What we were used to throwing away, they would have grownand we would get a boat load of them. And the mullet, he’d be this size (indicatingabout 2 ft long).

Elizabeth: Your average whiting, well you’d get a lot but they’d be just under legal size. Butwhen the entrance was closed they are that big, as big as an ordinary mullet, up to 2foot long. (Henry and Elizabeth Denniss)

Large floods keep entrance open and wide In the 1920s, 30s and 40s flooding would occur, but since 1954 and the last major flood, onlymuch smaller floods which is not sufficient to prevent sand infilling the entrance. (ArthurClouten) Channel used to be deeper The old wooden bridge at The Entrance, there was a good ten foot of water under it, but youwouldn’t get 10 feet of water under it now. Before, you could walk part of the way but you’dhave to swim where it was deeper. ... When the new bridge was put up (at The Entrance) kidsused to jump off it. (Harry Taylor) Entrance Blocking This is the fish that were caught one time when the entrance was blocked (looking at photo oflarge catch of fish). We were down there scooping fish out. All sorts of fish. They were fightingto get to sea. In 1934. There was truck loads taken, You could just haul them out with a scoopnet because they were congregating at the entrance. (Pat Clifford) The Entrance channel was opened up by floods The channel used to close every few years. And if the lake flooded, the level of the water wouldrise a metre to a metre and a half higher than it ever gets now. To open the channel a horse andscoop were used. When the flood was released the channel would be wide for a while and thenover the following months it would slowly become narrower and migrate back to its finalposition along the rocky edge on the south. Then it would slowly close off again. The sand onthe beach moves in a southerly direction because the normal flow of water is south due to theocean currents. The sand accumulates in The Entrance channel and doesn’t get around therocky headland on the south side of the entrance. The Entrance channel always silted up. But itused to clear out in the big floods. (Doug Duffy) The reason for dredging Somebody was saying in the paper why don’t we put in a breakwater? Another person repliedthat a breakwater won’t work and that what we need is a flood to get rid of the sand. But theflood would have to be so big to do any good that many houses around the lake would be floodedand so they can’t let that happen. And so they keep dredging to stop it closing, which meansthey will have to always rely on dredging. Unless of course a breakwater can be designed thatdoes the job. (Doug Duffy)

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Catching fish when channel re-opens Interviewer: What effects would the floods and the closed channel have on fish and prawns? Doug: Can’t remember what happened to the prawns but the fish at that stage were pretty

desperate because of the dilution of the salt. and very anxious to get out. And when thechannel was finally opened the fish would all try to get out and people (includingmyself) could just stand there with a net and scoop the fish out. (Doug Duffy)

Prawns need an open entrance channel Over the years when the entrance to Tuggerah closed, then the prawns cut out, and the oldfishermen wondered why, then they discovered that prawns have to go to sea to breed. The‘schoolies’ and the ‘kings’ go to sea, if they didn’t go to sea, the spawn never came back in andthe prawns gradually died out until we got a flood and opened the channel again. Thathappened several times before the war, 1935-1940. (Clarrie Wynn) Blocking of the entrance and floods Interviewer; When was the entrance channel blocked? Gordon; After dry times when the water level went down and the sand built up and blocked the

entrance, then we would get big rains and a flood and they would then have to open theentrance. Somehow the fish knew and would congregate there. We were just scoopingthem out with nets. I remember in 1941 I was selling mullet which were over 2 feet longfor six pence.

Interviewer; So in 1941 it was blocked, did a flood come then? Gordon; Yes, there were floods, the water would have been 3-4 feet up. Two of the Downes

brothers went down and opened it up, because they were in a flood prone area. Theydug a channel about 2 feet wide and within a few days it was half a mile wide! (GordonBennett)

Importance of a large entrance channel for spawning prawns The fishermen always maintain that to have a good prawn season, of school prawns, that youwant to have floods in February - March and then the following summer is a good season forschool prawns. If there is no rain there is no prawns. Everyone along the coast would tell youthe same thing. (John Brown) Fish and effects of dredging the channel After they dredged the channel at The Entrance (in the early 1990s), we got lots of whiting forabout 3 years in big quantities. Before that we used to get a few now and again but not like that. (Michael Clouten) Floods keep the channel open In 1931 the entrance channel was very wide that was because we had some big floods. Thatwas 1931, and one night we got 85 boxes of prawns. We caught them about 2 miles up the lake.The bigger the channel the more spawn comes in, and you get a lot of prawns. In the fifties wehad some good channels and that’s when we got all these fish. (Arthur Clouten) Large jewfish when entrance channel large In the years when a good entrance was to be had, jewfish was to be had in good supply, thelargest, 113 lbs was caught by Jack Newman, and many were caught at 50 lbs. (ArthurClouten)

The Entrance channel in about 1910. Mr Gordon, the Fisheries Inspector, is speaking to RB Taylor. Note thatthe channel shape has not changed over the last 80 years. (Photo supplied by Peter Clifford)

The Entrance channel in September 1927. (Photo; Mitchell Library)

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Larger channel when floods occur In the average seasons the Tuggerah Lakes can only support an entrance of 40-50 yards and 6-8 feet deep, but in the major flood season you need 200-300 yards to get the flood water awayafter which the entrance would return to 40-50 yards wide. (Arthur Clouten) Problems associated with making a larger entrance channel Some people want to improve the circulation of seawater by keeping the entrance channelpermanently open with a breakwater. But they don’t say where it is going to start, or how farout it would go out. The other problem is that there is very little flow of water to keep it open,the channel would still probably silt up. Others have suggested a second entrance nearBudgewoi. But what people forget is that the lake level is about 19 inches above sea level, or soI was told, and a second entrance might mean the lake becomes the same level as the sea. Wellthen there would be large areas of exposed mud all around the lake. (Peter Clifford) The channel opening and the use of a breakwater Each time a wave breaks, sand is taken into suspension and due to the mean southerlymovement of ocean water it is deposited at the south end of the beach. When water is flowinginto the lake the suspended sand is deposited in the channel mouth. Water beyond the oceanwave break does not have sand in suspension. If a sea wall was to be built on the northern sideof the channel and it extended beyond the line of wave break, the rate of silting in the channelmouth could be reduced. A sand bar may still form with time, but with good design this could beminimised. (Doug Duffy) The Entrance Channel - dredging is a waste of time The Council currently has a small inadequate dredge. They are dredging the channel because itkeeps silting up as it has always done for thousands of years. From The Entrance to NorahHead the land is all a large sandbank, and the north easterly wind plus the south-flowing oceancurrent moves the sand slowly down into the entrance channel and blocks it off. Now they havethe dredge in there and they are pumping the sand out onto North Entrance beach only 400metres north. The natural forces at work soon bring all this material back to where it was - a nowin situation. The lake water level is up quite high now because the sill of sand across thechannel is retaining the water, so if you have a large flood that finally breaks through, it scoursthe sill out, flushes it away and the water level of the lake drops down. They are pumping thesand from the channel, through a pipeline, over to the beach. But the way they are doing it, itwill end up back in the surf and then back into the channel! (Allan Whitham) Recommendation for breakwall at The Entrance (written in early 1990s) My suggestions for the future are that Wyong Shire Council should bring the condition ofTuggerah Lakes back to what it was from 1920 to 1939. Taking the bull dozers and other weedclearing machines to the tip and covering them over with garbage would be a start. Then theNorth Entrance channel near the bridge should be closed. Next dredge the south naturalchannel 8 to 10 ft deep to the rocks, 100 metres wide and let nature clean the algae from thelakes. ...The next step I would take is to build Breakwalls where the channel is on the southsideand another to the Northeast, 300 metres long to hold back the sand. My ideas would result in aclean healthy lake with a minimum of dredging as is the case with Wallis Lake and coastal tidalrivers such as the Hastings and Manning. (Arthur Clouten’s diary)

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7 Floods Nearly everyone interviewed had memories of large floods in Tuggerah Lakes. The floods thatare remembered most are the 1927 flood, the 1947 and 1949 floods and for more recentresidents, the 1990 flood. Many of the large floods occurred when the channel at The Entrancewas blocked by a sand bar, and the floodwaters would bank up until the level reached sufficientheight to flow over the sand bar (and scour it out), or locals would dig it out. Quite a few of the older residents believe that the very large floods are occurring less often now.This might be due to the current policy of keeping the entrance channel permanently open whichallows the floodwaters to flow out to sea rather than banking up. Alternatively, there could havebeen a long term decrease in the number of intense rainfall events, although the meteorologicalrecords do not show such a trend. 1927 flood We have had floods where we couldn’t get across the Wyong River bridge. In 1927 it floodedright across to where the Tuggerah Railway station is. And there was another big flood in 1949.We used to have enormous floods. (Joy Baker) Floods in the 1920s The 1927 flood was a big flood, and the 1928 flood was a big one too. Those two floods wereonly 3-4 months apart, December 1927 and Easter 1928. We went down there (The Entrance)and the water was almost up to where the parking area is now, all the waves from the sea werecoming in right up in front of the pub. (Peter Clifford) Blocked entrance causes more floods In those days the entrance used to block up a lot and that is why we got more floods. Theyhaven’t had a big flood for a long while now, probably because the entrance is opened up.(Eileen Brown) Less big floods recently There was a big flood in about 1949 or 1950, a really big one. There hasn’t been any big floodsrecently, not what I’d call a big flood anyway. There was a flood in about 1990 but it wasn’tthat big. (John Brown) 1949 flood 1949 was a big flood. The entrance was not open and the flood took a long time to go down.Water was over the approaches of the old Toukley Bridge. (Ray Holmes) Floods 1964 was a fairly big flood, 1972 was another big one. 1956, I was only eight years old but Iremember all the water around and I remember cows being washed down. (John McPherson) Less Floods in Lake Munmorah - channel deeper now That (the channel at Budgewoi) would block off until we got a big flood, it wouldn’t open thatquickly because there wasn’t a big river going into that lake, it didn’t drain a lot of water. If theflood was really bad they would have to open up the channel at The Entrance. On LakeMunmorah I have seen the water up 5 or 6 feet because this lake wouldn’t break through thesandbank. I couldn’t see that happening now because the channel at Budgewoi is permanentlyopen now. (Clarrie Wynn)

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Floods There was a big flood in 1927-28. There was two floods, one at Christmas and the next onecame at Easter. The first one was the really big one. We also had a big one in 1945 I think itwas. We haven’t had big floods recently. There was one time during a flood that they opened upthe entrance and it really cleaned out the channel and made it very wide. (Pat Clifford) 1949 flood - it won’t ever happen again! It won’t ever happen again! I have heard it said many times since 1949. I think that was theyear of the big flood. At that time the weather produced strong southerly winds for over twoweeks. This caused a massive movement of sand in the ocean in the vicinity of the entrancechannel, completely blocking the flow of water from the lakes. A sand dam formed across thesea front. This combined with torrential rain, pushed the lake levels to 7 feet [2.1 m] abovenormal. All low regions bordering the lakes were submerged. On ‘Tuggerah straight’ the watercoming down Wyong Creek rose over the rail line. People had to be rescued from their homesaround Mardi, Tacoma and Chittaway Point, along with cattle. This water level was notreduced for some considerable time. It took the people from Chittaway Point to eventuallypersuade the Wyong Council to do something. Bulldozers were a rarity. The only one availablewas hired to cut a channel through the sand dam to release the water. However, with the bigseas running and the pressure of water from the lake, things became too 'hairy', so the dozerowner packed up and took his dozer home. Eventually the folk from Chittaway Point formed ashovel brigade and opened a channel off their own bat. Once the water began to flow, theentrance to the lakes was soon open again. (Gordon Browne) Big floods The boatshed that we used to live in at my uncle’s place (at Toukley), one year the water cameright up to the roof which must have been 10-15 feet from the normal level. In the early years Ialso remember floods coming right up to my mum and dad’s fence which must also have been12-15 feet. But this hasn’t happened in recent years. In about 1946-47 we were camping atColongra Creek up between the swamp and the lake, and there was a big storm so we headedback to Toukley in our boat and in some places we went straight through the trees, so the watermust have been up 12-15 feet up. (Bill Hansen) Flood in the 1950s There was a large flood about the time we came to live permanently, in 1956-57. During thatflood, I remember that there were huge seas and people worried that the ocean would breakacross the road between Budgewoi and Noraville, so they filled it with sand and dragged treesacross it to save it from being washed away. (Janeille Gates) Floods There were two big floods in the mid 50s and also a flood in 1990. During one of the floods inthe 50s there was a bad storm and a small amount of water from the ocean came over the sanddunes into Budgewoi Lake. There was another flood, perhaps in the 70s or 80s when someonerowed their boat right up to the Bowling Club at Halekulani. (Albert Asplet) 1990 flood This photo shows the front of the house during the 100 year flood which happened a few yearsago. It probably would have risen about 3 feet 6 inches above the normal lake level. It came uparound the front of the house. I was getting sandbags and blocking up the sewerage ventsbecause it was running into the sewerage. It totally mucked up the sewerage. (Allan Whitham)

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1990 flood The 1990 flood was the highest since 1964. It took 2 days to rise, was near peak for 2 days andtook 2 days to recede to 0.5 m. The channel was open during this flood. (Tom Wallace) Less floods recently In the twenties we had 3 large floods, in the thirties we had 1 and that was 1939. In the fortieswe had 3 large floods. In the fifties we had 4 large floods. In the sixties we had 2, in theseventies we had 2. In the eighties we had no flood at all. So far on the 4th February 1990 wehad it up to the bottom step (of my house) there. So if we don’t get a flood in the next 3 years itwill be 1 flood for 20 years! The floods keep the entrance channel open. (extract from ArthurClouten’s diary in 1990) Big floods still occur The 1990 flood was nearly as big as the 1927 flood. In my opinion we can get big floods again,perhaps bigger. (Peter Clifford)

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8 Catchment issues

8.1 Changes in land-use in the upper catchment Before European settlement the catchments of the Wyong River, Ourimbah Creek and WallarahCreek were forested and the quality of water reaching the lakes would have been high. In the1830s, the logging and clearing of these forests commenced and during the late 19th century andearly 20th century the timber industry was an important source of income to the district.Agricultural activities commenced in the mid 19th century and in the first half of the 20th centurydairying and citrus growing were major land uses in the catchment. The disturbance to the land caused by forestry and agriculture would have resulted in a largeincrease in erosion throughout the 19th century. Much of this eroded material would have beendeposited in the lakes. These sediments contain nutrients, and in large quantities can causeexcessive plant and algal growth in rivers and lakes. In recent years, dairying and citrus growing have both declined and there has been acorresponding increase in grazing, turf farming on the river flats, and hobby farms. The steepersections of the upper catchment are still selectively logged but have generally retained theirnatural vegetation cover. Decline of dairying In 1965 there were 148 dairy farms in the shire, and the last one went out 3 years ago, so thereare none left. Still alot of cattle in the shire but no working dairy farms. They peaked in the1950s with about 180 farms. Before the Power stations were built, the dairy factory near Wyongused to be one of the biggest employers in the town. Most of those farms are now grazingproperties, there are alot of horses out here now too. (John McPherson, catchment officer atWyong Shire Council) Decline of citrus Citrus was also big, there are still quite a few farms up on the plateau region, Dooralong usedto be one of the biggest citrus regions in NSW. There are still a few farms but nothing like itwas. Citrus declined about the same time as land prices went up and the return from citrusdeclined. (John McPherson, catchment officer at Wyong Shire Council) Expansion of turf farms There are now quite a few turf farms in the valleys, and these have been very successful. Thisfirst started in 1968, there are thirteen farms out there now. Council has done studies inconjunction with Sydney University on the turf farms to look at the quality of runoff, since thevalley is water supply area. The potential problem with turf farms is high nutrient levels inrunoff but they now must have retention basins away from the creek and they must obey quitealot of stringent regulations. The turf farms are now not a problem, initially there were somethat were not managed properly with regard to water quality issues, but no problems now.(John McPherson, catchment officer at Wyong Shire Council) Upper catchment is mainly forested 82% of the designated water supply catchment area is State Forest, ie the catchment of Wyongand Ourimbah Creeks, upstream of weirs that feed Mardi Dam. (John McPherson, catchmentofficer at Wyong Shire Council)

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Improved erosion control by forestry The whole region was opened up to logging at a very early date, there is still some selectivecutting by State Forests. State Forests should put in erosion control measures these days. Inearlier days there was much less control over State Forests and less care with erosion issues.(John McPherson, catchment officer at Wyong Shire Council) Erosion of streambanks Major issues with water quality have been the degradation and erosion of streambanks and theloss of riparian vegetation. Particularly associated with grazing of the riparian zone. In earlieryears there was little regard for erosion control or riparian vegetation, but in the last 10 yearsor so the awareness of this issue has greatly increased and effort is being put into controllingerosion of stream banks by protecting riparian vegetation. (John McPherson, catchment officerat Wyong Shire Council) Flood water was grey not brown and muddy When we got a flood years ago, the water would only be grey in colour, it wasn’t soily lookingas it is now, when you get a flood now it is all muddy. But in those days a flood would only begrey, it didn’t matter how big a flood it was. (Clarrie Wynn) Water supply Drinking water is supplied by Mardi Dam, just west of Wyong. This dam is supplied by waterpumped from Ourimbah Creek (88 km2) and Wyong-Jilliby Creeks (355 km2). Mardi Dam isbasically a holding storage, it only has a very small catchment itself (2.4 km2). There is also adam in a nearby catchment at Central Mangrove in the Gosford Shire. This can be used tosupplement the water supply by pumping water from this dam into the top of Bunning Creek. Soalthough there is no dam on either Wyong or Ourimbah creek, water is being harvested fromtheir catchments, and hence the flow of water reaching the lakes is reduced somewhat. (JohnMcPherson, catchment officer at Wyong Shire Council)

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8.2 Sewage pollution and its impact on the lakes Early this century there was no sewage disposal system and each house had a pit toilet to disposeof waste. Wastewater from baths and from washing was discharged into drains which eventuallyflowed into the lake. However there was little impact on the lakes since there were very fewhouses in the district at that time. Later, as small towns started to develop in the district, a sanitary pan service commenced. Eachweek the pans were collected and emptied at waste dumps. These were initially located atBateau Bay and Mardi and later on a third depot commenced operations at Noraville. In the 1960s, generally after town water was connected, flushing toilets were installed in somehouses and the waste was treated on-site using septic tanks. These tended to perform verypoorly and there are numerous reports of them overflowing or seeping into the lakes. In the1960s and 70s, seepage from septic tanks, as well as the disposal of ‘greywater’ into nearbydrains, were regarded by most as a major cause of pollution (both faecal contamination and alsonutrients). The problem was exacerbated by the rapidly increasing population. Problems with the septic systems eventually led to the construction of a reticulated seweragesystem, commencing in the late 1960s and completed in the early 1990s. The sewerage systemis now connected to outfalls which discharge treated effluent to the ocean at Norah Head andBateau Bay. This system has greatly reduced sewage pollution entering the lakes, and manybelieve this will allow the health of the lakes to slowly improve. Pit toilets at Budgewoi camping area in the late 30s and early 40s There was no pan service in those early years, pits were dug and shored up with timber and thetoilet built over the pit. (Ray Catterall) Digging a hole, then sanitary pan, and finally sewerage Prior to the pan service collection we used to just dig a hole. We never had septic, we went fromthe pan to sewer in about 1970. (Bill Hansen) Toilets at Buff Point from 1930s to the 1950s It was always a hole in the ground, while we were there. Sanitary pan didn’t come for a longwhile, perhaps the early 50s..... (Glen McKenzie and Eileen Brown) Pan service The pan service came by once a week, but in holiday times there might be 2 dozen peoplestaying in the one house and many people would dispose of it just by digging a hole. (PatCalphy) Waste dump at Mardi They used to tip all their sanitary pans out at Mardi and eventually some of that would have gotinto Wyong Creek. (Pat Calphy) Disposal of sanitary pan waste The waste collected in the sanitary pans used to be buried at Mardi by the Wyong contractor,and for The Entrance it was buried at Bateau Bay, and at Toukley it went to Noraville. (MickBaker)

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Waste dump at Noraville The old shit dump (for sanitary pan service) used to be at Noraville where the treatment worksis, they would wash the pans and all the water used to just go on the ground and could haveeasily drained back towards the lake. (Pat Calphy) Seepage from Noraville waste dump There used to be raw sewage running into the lakes from the sewage dump near that corner(north-east corner of Tuggerah Lake). (Pat Clifford) Disposal of greywater Interviewer; When people had sanitary pans, where did dirty water from washing dishes or

having a bath go to? Pat; That would go into a rubble in the backyard, all bath water used to go in the ground and

would also have been draining into the lake. (Pat Calphy) Pan service in the late 30s and 40s, then a septic system in the late 1950s Initially we had a hole in the ground, for many years. Then we got a pan service. It was in thelate 30s or very early 40s that we had a pan service. I remember this because the pans wouldoften fill quickly and would require emptying. We often had alot of people in one of the cottagesand the pan would fill up and I would have to empty it. My parents moved in about 1959. Whenthey moved they had a septic tank. Around the western areas of the lake there were a lot ofseptic systems and some of them were the type that had to be pumped out because the absorptionwasn’t sufficient. But many people didn’t bother pumping them out so they would overflow. Itwas contributing enormously to the pollution. (Doug Duffy) Septic/ Sewerage - Budgewoi In the early years we had sanitary pans and around 1967 when we came up here to livepermanently we put the septic tank on. I used to notice next door, when they washed clothesthey used a lot of detergent and I used to see a lot of bubbles coming up at the bottom of theyard. It soaked through. It was after I retired in 1981 that they got the sewer in. (Eric Percival) Sewage and other pollution - seepage from septics We had sanitary pans at Tacoma up until when we left which was 31 years ago (1967), andwhen we first went to Chittaway, the place we rented had an old on-site septic which was abovethe ground, and it seeped out into a trench. Then we moved to another place that had a panservice, and then about 26 years ago we bought a place, where we are now in Ansell Close, andit had a septic system which had a trench and that was only 20 feet from the creek. We wouldn’tsee seepage but it had to be occurring. (Trevor Spiers) Sewerage at Chittaway Point and Budgewoi. At Chittaway Point in the 40s everyone had sanitary pans which would be collected. All otherwashing water or dirty water used to go straight into the creek via a drain pipe. In the 60speople started to use septic systems and this was part of the problem. Sewerage came later, ithad only just been connected here (Budgewoi) when I bought this place 15 years ago. Beforethat the houses along here were on septic. (Arthur Sterrit)

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Seepage into the lake from septics There were illegal connections, there was very little control by Council in those days and therewas no such thing as a Health Department. In low lying areas every time it rained that stuffcouldn’t have gone anywhere but out of the ground, it couldn’t have soaked away because theground was already saturated with water, the watertable was right near the surface. There isonly one place it would go and that would be in the lake. (Pat Calphy) Problems with septic systems They hadn't long started it (introduction of septic systems) when I came here 1958. They hadsanitary pans before that. And before the sanitary collection they used to have to dig a hole.When the septic tanks came in, the type of pit was according to the absorption of your soil.There was a lot of trouble here with the pits, there is a lot of silicon in this soil around here.After a period of time silicon used to form a seal in the wall, and it couldn’t absorb out. Thecouncil permitted people to put septic tanks in at flood level along the lakes. As soon as we gota flood all the effluent went into the lake. (Ernie Quinton) Seepage from septic systems Growth of weed absolutely flourished due to nutrients seeping into the lake from septic systems.The septic systems must have been having an impact, there was nowhere else for the effluent togo. There were very few controls on where septic systems were built or on how well theyoperated, so systems were installed on sandy areas right next to the lake. The effluent must havebeen seeping down into the lake. In heavy rain they would be flooded and overflow into thelake. Septic systems in sandy areas next to the lake never worked. We had one at our house inTuggerawong Rd and it didn’t work properly and neither did our neighbour’s. In rain it used tooverflow and run down the street into the lake. This was common. (John McPherson) Overflowing septic systems There was seepage from the septics of some other properties along the lake front. Some peopleonly had pump-out systems and they never had them pumped out so they would overflow. Therewould be green slime along the edge of the lake where this seepage got into the lake. Thisimproved when the sewer was connected. (Albert Asplet) Leaking septics I had a septic system myself when I was living at Toukley and it used to overflow into the drainand then into the lake, it had nowhere else to go. (John Brown) Septics overflowing Back in the 1960s, before the 'pump-out' system was introduced, most residences close to thelakes had septic systems that overflowed, especially during wet weather, this septic overflowfound its way into the lakes. I believe the Council tried to prevent this from happening, but itwas not reduced until the 'pump-out' system was introduced for all residences with a septicsystem. (Gordon Browne) Nutrients from septics boosted weed growth The increase in nitrogen etc from the septic tanks would have boosted the weed growth alongthe shores. And now there is all this ooze. The pollution all ends up in the lake and can’t leavebecause there is very little flushing of the lake. (Peter Clifford)

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Sanitary pan to sewerage at Gorokan Margaret: ..we had a sanitary pan back then (late 1950s). The sewerage was put on in the early

70s. Interviewer; When you had a bath or the kitchen water was emptied out where did the water go

before you were on the sewer? Gordon; There was a rubble drain, and this had an offshoot into the easement, which of course

then ended up in the lake. (Gordon and Margaret Gedling) Sewage at Gorokan In the early days (1920s and 30s) it was a hole in the ground. In the 60s there were the sanitarypans. They put sewerage through here in about the late 60s or early 70s. We went fromsanitary pans straight to sewer. It was only a weekender so it wasn’t worth putting in septic.(Alwyn Quoy) Sewerage system at The Entrance In 1964 they got the water supply turned on in The Entrance. The sewer would have gone on inthe early 1970s. (Pat Calphy) Faulty septic systems would leak I think with all the development there is a lot of waste water and detergents going into the lakenow, but then again if you go back many years, there was no control over septics. If you were togo back to when there was all those septic tanks, I’ll guarantee you’d find out that half of themwere illegally done, they were often done by the owner, and where it overflowed to wasanybody’s guess. (Harry Taylor) Pollution from houses harmed the lakes I think the lakes have changed because of what has gone into it over the years because of all thedevelopment, the septic runoff, the soaps, the detergents. Everyone blamed the Power Stationand I don’t imagine the hot water helped, but it wasn’t the main cause. When I first moved toChittaway Point in the 30s there were only 8 homes there. But all their washing water anddetergents went straight into the creek. If you wanted to go swimming sometimes you notice thatsomeone has just drained their tub of dirty water into the creek. That has happened thousandsof times over and over now. We didn’t have detergents in those days, just sunlight soap, but oncethese detergents appeared on the market, that is when all the trouble started. (Arthur Sterrit) Sewer at Berkeley Vale Interviewer; When did you get sewer here? Allan; In the late 1970s. The sewer line goes along the reserve waterfront here. When the

sewer wasn’t on, some people had septics and some had the pans. We all had absorptionpits for washing up, bathing, washing clothes etc. and you had pans or pump-out septictanks (if you had a lot of money) for your sewage. Every time it rained all the muckused to flush up out of the absorption pits and end up in the lake. You could smell it.(Allan Whitham)

Sewage treatment plant at Noraville They used to put it (the treated effluent) in the settlement ponds (in the red gum forest). It wasmeant to filtrate from the settlement ponds through the sand towards the ocean but the problemwas that it might have filtrated through the sand back to Canton Beach. (Pat Calphy)

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Seepage from treatment works at Noraville There used to be the old dump (where they disposed of waste from sanitary pans) up atNoraville, and when they put the sewer on they turned it into a treatment works. At the backthere they put in holding ponds. But some of us reckon those ponds were leaking into the lake.And we’ve also seen sewage come down the drains at the end of Canton Beach, I think it waswhen the treatment works overflowed, and that used to be pretty disgusting. (Ernie Quinton) The ‘shit hole’ There is one part of the lake up here, ¾ of the way up to Toukley, The fisherman called that‘shit hole’ because the accumulation of the stuff running in. That hasn’t really changed. (PatClifford) Toukley Sewage Treatment Plant The Toukley (or Noraville) plant was initially built in the early 1970s, and augmented in theearly to mid 1980s. It used to discharge into the sandhills. This would then seep into the ocean,hopefully, rather than towards the lake. There was a certain amount of work done on this issuein about the early 1980s, there were some bore holes that were constructed for looking at that.Since August 1988 the ponds were taken off line and effluent was discharged directly into theocean. (Steve Mudie, Wyong Council) Wyong Sewage Treatment Plant Wyong treatment plant was a secondary treatment plant operated from about 1969 to 1988. Itused to discharge effluent into an oxidation pond and would be re-used by Wyong Golf Course.Overflows would enter the nearby wetlands, which ultimately could have reached Wyong Creek.After 1988 it got pumped across to the outfall at Toukley. (Steve Mudie, Wyong Council) Sewage overflows These are pretty rare, since the system has been designed around a future capacity that is muchlarger than the current flow, and there is not a lot of infiltration except in a few spots where thesystem is below lake level. (Steve Mudie, Wyong Council) Improvements with sewerage I think that the lake might even have improved in the last few years because everyone is now onsewerage. When septic systems were being used, the lake received a lot of nutrients fromseepage. And of course those nutrients are still there in the lake sediments and will be there fora long time. It would be very difficult to reduce the nutrient loads in the sediment. (JohnMcPherson) Less weed growth when the district was sewered There is a definite improvement in the state of the lakes since the whole of the shire wassewered, in terms of too much weed growth. (John Brown)

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8.3 Urban stormwater and industrial pollutants Stormwater runoff from urban areas contains pollutants from road surfaces (oils, heavy metals),lawns and footpaths (fertilisers, pesticides, dog faeces, detergents, paints and litter), andsediment from unpaved gutters, new housing developments and other areas of bare earth. Fiftyyears ago the towns around the lakes were very small and runoff from urban areas would havebeen negligible. In the last 20 to 30 years there has been a massive increase in housing allaround the lakes and this has led to a very large increase in urban runoff. Industrial pollutants can end up in the local streams (and then the lake) via contamination ofrunoff from concrete surfaces around factories or from accidental (or illegal) discharges intodrains. There has been a large increase in the last 10-20 years in the number of factories locatedwithin the catchment. However, there has also been the introduction of quite strict regulationswhich aim to reduce the risk of industrial pollutants spilling into nearby drains and reaching thelake Pollutants entering the lakes system from urban and industrial areas can have three majorimpacts. Firstly, some pollutants can be toxic to aquatic species and can either kill them (lethaltoxicity) or reduce their health (chronic toxicity). Secondly, many of the pollutants from urbanareas contain high levels of nutrients and can increase the growth of lake weed along theshoreline. Finally, large quantities of sediment passing down the stormwater system can settleout along the lake edge, causing siltation problems. In the last 5-10 years, there has been an increasing effort to reduce the quantity of pollution fromurban runoff reaching the lake. This includes the construction of sediment traps, trash racks andfilter strips on stormwater drains, and increasing public awareness through education campaigns. Pollutants from houses all end up in lakes People need to understand that the lake is a sink for all pollutants washing off the streets anddown the rivers. It all ends up in the lake. (John McPherson, catchment officer, Wyong ShireCouncil) Pollution from the catchment There is more pollution too, in those days there wasn’t the whole of Berkeley Vale emptyingtheir rubbish into the lake. You would be surprised how much rubbish is out there, and theseptic tanks didn’t help either. (Peter Clifford) Urban stormwater and lake pollution There is still some pollution coming into the lake from all the houses but you can’t really doanything about that. But at last Council is putting in some plants (rushes and oak trees) to filterthe water that comes down all the drains. We used to just have open drains and everything usedto just wash out into the lake. (John Brown) Sediments from stormwater drains - Berkeley Vale One of the biggest problems is that there are 23 drains along this section of the lake (BerkeleyVale) and there is a delta forming at the mouth of each one, even where ponding traps havebeen built near the outlets. ....The mud spit at the end of the drain near Erin Avenue intrudedalmost 100 metres into the lake before it was removed by Council. (Allan Whitham)

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Stormwater runoff has increased Stormwater pollution has been steadily increasing in the last few decades due to the very largeincrease in urban areas near the lake. Monitoring data for stormwater drains is available.Nutrient input from stormwater runoff has increased over the years. Before urban development,most rain would soak into the ground where now it runs off the road surfaces, and house roofsinto drains and then the lake. Land clearing and the draining and reclamation of wetlands hasalso increased runoff from some parts of the lower catchment. Sediment loads entering the lakefrom these areas has greatly increased. (John McPherson, catchment officer, Wyong Council) Increased population causes more pollution Every foot of curbing and guttering that is built, the runoff and rubbish goes straight into thecreek or lake. The more people living around the lake the more pollution running into it.(Trevor Spiers) Urban stormwater In the late 1980s they started putting in silt traps on creeks entering the lake. Periodically theywould inspect them and dig them out. They also make sure sand bags or hay bales are putacross gutter at building sites to stop the silt. There is a lot more control now for erosion. Also,now there are more tarred roads so most of the dirt roads have gone. But there still areproblems if the silt traps aren’t cleaned out and there can also be problems in the new sub-divisions because of all the dirt, when it rains it just goes everywhere. (Pat Calphy) Stormwater In Toukley in the 30s and 40s, when it rained, it soaked into the soil and filtered into the lake asclean water. But now with tar and cement, anything that runs into the stormwater drains goesinto the lake! You can see where they have put the filtration on the stormwater drains at CantonBeach. But they did not put a mud trap in. When it gets flood waters, it overflows as brownwater and then fills the bottom of Canton Beach with silt and you create a weed. (ErnieQuinton) Urban pollution - there used to be none. A lot of people say the drainage, the detergent, is going into the lake and feeding it (the weed).That’s half the problem with the lake now. Nothing used to go into the lake, there was no housesthere then. (Elizabeth Denniss) Stormwater drains and pollution at Toukley After rains here, you can sometimes see a slick on the water. There is a stormwater drain outthe front here and there is obvious pollution, lots of cartons and litter too. (Bill Hansen) Stormwater easement and siltation of the lake edge. We have an easement along our boundary and we have had large amounts of gravel washeddown that easement over the years. And this gravel has formed little islands where the easemententers the lake. (Looking at photo of the easement along the side of the house.) The easementhas a big flow in storms. The runoff has been caused by all the housing and roads that havebeen built over the years. It used to be an open drain and there was virtually no water in it.When we first came here it was all bush and the water soaked into the ground. But now we aregetting all the runoff, and we also get coke bottles, Macdonald’s, oil, anything that people throwinto the drain. (Margaret Gedling)

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Improvement in the lake conditions and industrial pollution They have fixed the sewerage and they are planting those oaks and rushes to filter thestormwater. But the other concern I have for this lake is pollution from industry. LakeMacquarie has that problem, so does Georges River. Well we are now just starting to get heavyindustry in our area, in Tuggerah and if that is not rigidly controlled we could have bigproblems. There was a fish kill in one of the creeks just a few years ago, but the authorities justclaimed it was just a lack of oxygen that killed them. (John Brown) Decline of mullet in creeks due to pollution. In the first part of June we would knock off (hauling in the lake) and go working up the Wyongor Chittaway Rivers. ...When there was no rain, you could see every log on the bottom, thewater was just like crystal. ...We would only have a short net and you would catch a lot ofmullet, they would go up to the weir near the Butter Factory and we got lots of mullet up there,but they have disappeared up there now, I think a lot of it is to do with the muck that goes inthere, soil and other stuff. ...as more houses got built, everyone drained everything into the riverbecause there was no sewerage then. (Bill Byles) Fish kills Over in Chittaway Creek, they had this big fish kill; a freak storm came and killed the fish.Four or five years ago. But it came through on the grapevine, it was a pest controller whodumped all his stuff down a drain. It killed the oxygen on the surface of the water. But theauthorities claimed it was a freak of nature. Well, up until then in all my fishing life since 1930- why is it there had been no freaks of nature? Then just suddenly this occurs! Now you haveall this big industrial area around the lakes. They probably released the chemicals because theythought the storm would disperse it. (Pat Clifford) Fish kill in Ourimbah Creek Interviewer; Have you ever seen a fish kill? Trevor: Yes, that was about 5-6 years ago in our creek (Ourimbah Creek). The cause was lack

of oxygen because of all the algae in the water. It occurred in dry weather in summer.This is what Fisheries told us anyway. I saw them floating by. There were thousands offish killed. There was bream, mullet, blackfish, everything. Previously there has beensome fish kills in Wyong River also, but that was years ago. (Trevor Spiers)

The Quoy family bought a large area of land atGorokan in 1923 and built a group of holidayhouses for rent. The family have always beenregular visitors on weekends and holidays, andAlwyn is now a permanent resident.

left; The Quoys weekender at 24 Manuka Pde,Gorokan in 1965.

Bottom; The Corso at Gorokan in 1936-37.(Photos; Alwyn Quoy)

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9 Munmorah Power Station The Munmorah Power Station commenced operation in 1967 and was working at full capacityby 1969. In 1990 two of the four units were shut down. The station continued to reduce itsoperations over the next few years, and current operational arrangements are for intermittentservice of one unit as a standby plant. There are a number of changes to the lakes that residents and fishermen claim the Power Stationcaused, although many of these have not been confirmed by scientific studies. The changes thatresidents and fishermen attributed to the power station include; • Decline in jellyfish abundance. • Decline in greasyback prawns. • Increase in weed (seagrass and algae) in Budgewoi and Munmorah Lakes, and change in

species, due to warmer water. • Some fishermen believed that fish catches were reduced after the power station was built,

although some others felt it was not greatly affected. • Large king and school prawns caught at the inlet canal. These prawns would be drawn into

Lake Munmorah via the continuous current through Budgewoi Creek and then could notleave again. So they would keep growing to a large size until they were eventually suckedinto the inlet canal, where they were caught.

• Lots of small fish were attracted to the outlet canal (due to warm water and feed). This

became a popular fishing spot with amateurs. • Ash entered Budgewoi Lake in the early years of operation. In later years modifications

were made to prevent this.

• Sawdust used for plugging leaks in condenser tubes would enter Budgewoi Lake.

• Changes in water circulation in Top and Middle Lakes. The circulation of cooling watermeant that there was a continuous flow of water from Budgewoi to Munmorah Lake,whereas under natural conditions the water could flow either way depending on the weather(wind, rain etc).

• Increase in water temperature - particularly Budgewoi Lake. • Budgewoi channel deepened. This would have allowed mature fish to leave the lake and go

to sea to spawn. In earlier years, when the channel was quite shallow, some fish wouldbecome trapped in Lake Munmorah and would grow to a large size. Hence the deepening ofthe channel probably resulted in a reduced catch of large-sized tailor, mullet, bream etcwhich had been a feature of this lake.

• A few accidental discharges of pollution and the occasional fish kill were reported by

residents. • Loss of shell life - one person suggested that this might have been caused by cleaning agents

used in the power station to eliminate shell growth in the cooling system. Some fishermen and residents believe there has been an improvement in the condition of bothBudgewoi and Munmorah Lakes since the Power Station reduced its operation in the last fewyears. In particular they have observed increasing numbers of greasyback prawns and changes

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in the types of weed (seagrass and algae). Some have also observed an increase in shell-life.Whether these changes are in fact associated with the reduction in operation of the PowerStation or have been caused by other factors is difficult to determine. Less fish in Lake Munmorah From 1936 large quantities of greasyback prawns bred in Lake Munmorah, and from 1953good quantity of bream and luderick and mullet caught with meshing nets. This lake was closedto hauling nets about 1952. After the start of operation of the Power Station in 1967, there werebig falls in fish and prawns in this area, so most fishermen never got there as catches would besmall compared with the catches before 1967. (Arthur Clouten) Sawdust and ash There was ash coming out in the early stages. And they also used to put sawdust into thecooling water to block the leaks up in the pipes, and all this sawdust would then come out intothe lake. I think people complained about the ash and that’s when they built the ash dam.(Mick Asquith) Fish kill caused by Power Station The first big kill they had, just after the power station started, I rang up the fishing inspector,Jack Trifford, and told him that there was dead fish floating all over the lake. So he came overto have a look. I took him out in the boat on Budgewoi Lake, there was dead bream, mullet,blackfish, everything, and they were all over the lake, and I said they are coming from the powerhouse. He said how do I know so I took him right up to the outlet and you could see themcoming down in the current. So he went up to the Power Station and saw them and he cameback later to tell me that their reply was ‘what do you want power or fish?’. That was in theearly days. (Mick Asquith) Proposed Power Station at Chittaway If a Power Station was built at Chittaway, cooling water taken from theTumbi/Chittaway/Wyong River area would ruin the main lake for the school and king prawns asit has done to the greasyback prawns in Lake Munmorah. Also, a Power Station in the Tumbi-Chittaway area would destroy the garfish supply as garfish eggs float about until hatched, theywould be drawn into inlet canals then into hot water, cooked and return to the lake via the outletcanal. (extract from diary of Arthur Clouten in early 1980s) Prawning in Tuggerah Lakes - effect of Power Station Masses of the high priced school and king prawns are dragged through the Power Station toprovide feed for fish (at the outlet) and at various times thousands killed when a solution to killthe weed growth is put in the water at Power Stations. (extract from Arthur Clouten’s diary in1982) Changes to water flows in Lake Munmorah When the Power House started, the flow through to Munmorah Lake was only one way and thisis against nature. Before the Power House it would flow both ways. This change must have hadan effect on the lakes. The power house isn’t operating any more so perhaps we’ll see animprovement. (Albert Asplet)

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Deepening the Budgewoi channel When they built the power house, they deepened the channel at Budgewoi between the lakes andput large rocks along the edges. They also dug a larger second channel into Munmorah Lake.The old channel was quite narrow and bent around to the left, whereas the new channel is widerand goes straight ahead. (Albert Asplet) Budgewoi channel used to be shallow in the evening we used to dig our way in to Lake Munmorah and in the morning we’d have todig our way back out. If you got a north east wind it would block it off at the top end. That wasdeepened when they were building the Power Station. They also deepened from Buff Point allthe way round to the channel at Budgewoi; that section was always deep enough for the boatsbut they deepened it too. (Mick Asquith) Effect of deepening the Budgewoi channel on the fish Interviewer: When they deepened the channel through to Munmorah, did that change the type of

fish you caught there? Mick; Yes, it was that shallow that when fish went in there, they’d stay in there and keep

growing and they were always the biggest fish you would catch. They couldn’t easilyget out so they’d stay there and keep growing. Everything was always bigger in TopLake. That changed when they deepened it. You see now, if mullet go into Top Lake,they might only stay there for a day and then come back out again, where previouslywhen they went in, they would stop there. (Mick Asquith)

Prawns caught on inlet screens I worked on some of the Power Stations as a contractor. When they pumped the water into thePower Station, they used to get tons of prawns on the screens. (Ernie Quinton) Ash used to be washed into lake Interviewer: You mentioned earlier something about the ash going into the lake. Ernie; All that went into Budgewoi Lake when they washed the boilers out. It was very fine

stuff. (Ernie Quinton)

Heating the water kills plankton That power station was a lot to do with killing plankton. They reckon it didn't happen, but youcan't tell me. You can't tell me you’re not cooking plankton. (Ernie Quinton)

Sawdust to plug leaks They used sawdust to block leaks in the cooling system at the power house and sometimes thiswould flow out into Budgewoi lake; there was finer stuff that used to come out sometimes aswell. (Albert Asplet) Increased water temperature and its effects on the weed and fish Interviewer: What did the temperature change (of the water) do to the fish? Mick; It didn’t make much difference, but in the winter time it brought the fish to the warmer

water. Summer time it didn’t make much difference. But it made a difference to theweed. It made the weed grow. All sorts of weed grew, some different to what we hadbefore. Before the power house some years the weed would be bad and other years itwould be good, but it was different weed back then it was the silk weeds and the stackweed, but since the power house there is very little stack weed, this is in Budgewoi LakeI’m talking about. Before the Power House, the stack weed used to grow to the top, allover the lake, but once the power house started there was none of that. When I first

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moved out to Buff Point here (1963), there was no power house then, and I was herethree years, and I had a launch and I couldn’t use it in Budgewoi Lake because the stackweed was to the top of the water. It disappeared more or less when the power housestarted. It has not returned the same way since then. (Mick Asquith)

Loss of blubber caused by Power Station? This place used to be full of blubber too, the blubber was blocking the screens at the powerhouse, so they got a ‘blubber expert’ in and they wiped them out. This expert was up there forthree years working out how to kill the blubber and we’ve never had them since. We used tocatch prawns in the inlet canal, and the ‘blubber man’ used to come down and talk to us, he tookus up to the power house, and showed us what he was doing, he showed us how he was killingthem, and we’d end up getting the dead blubber in our nets, they’d have no legs we’d just getthe head of them. The blubber would be dead and would go hard, and you’d only get the head ofit. (Mick Asquith) Power Station - effects on greasyback prawns I think it (the Power Station) may have been responsible for the demise of the greasybackprawns. (Doug Duffy) Power Station blamed for decline of blackfish The blackfish got a disease and we reckon the power house caused it. A lot of them died and alot of them had a sort of fungi on their face. They even found some as far down as Terrigal withit. There was thousands of dead fish in the lake, mainly blackfish, a few bream also. It was onlyin these three lakes, anywhere where there was a bit of shade you’d find them. They werewashing up all along the lake. they were blaming the fishermen for it. They started off in thepower house. It never officially came out that it was the Power House. (Mick Asquith) Shellfish decline - possible effects of Power Station? Mick; They (the Power Station) killed the stack weed and the shell life and everything. Interviewer: So there is less shell fish (in Budgewoi lake)? Mick; What we call bream shells, they all died. Interviewer: Has that affected the bream then? Mick; It can’t have helped. All the shells died in Munmorah also. (Mick Asquith) Warmer water in Budgewoi Lake The fishermen who used aluminium boats, they used to say that they could feel the change inwater temperature as soon as they went under the Toukley bridge and entered Budgewoi Lake.(John Brown) Algal growth due to Power Station Interviewer: In the late 80s early 90s there was a lot of algae along the shores of the lake, do

you remember this? Mick; We get it nearly every year, we call it slime. It comes and goes. But that’s another thing

the power house caused, and now it is starting to go, we are not getting it as bad as itwas because the water isn’t as warm any more. Your wool and that grows in the wintertime and when it gets warmer it turns to slime. (Mick Asquith)

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Fishing not affected but prawning was Interviewer; What effects did the power station have on your fishing? John; It didn’t have an effect on the fishing itself but it reversed the current in the lake and also

where you would find the fish. But it didn’t reduce the fish numbers. Pat; But it seemed to affect the prawns, we didn’t get many good hauls down this way after the

power station started. John; Because of the reversed current, once the prawns got into the Top Lake there was no way

of ever getting back out. The prawns in the inlet channel were twice the size ofanywhere else. That’s because they had to stay in the Top Lake and keep growing there,they couldn’t get out. We were allowed to prawn in the inlet channel because theprawns would otherwise go through the power station and get killed by the heat. (JohnBrown and Pat Clifford)

Pollution in Budgewoi Lake One time there was a chocolate coloured slimey-ooze (or slick) on the water surface along theforeshore. It felt oily. It had come from the power house when they were cleaning someequipment out. I reported it to the environmental officer (Mr Bell) at Wyong Council butnothing was done about it. (Albert Asplet) Fish kills from Power Station Pat; The worst thing for killing our fish in these lakes was the Power Station with the things

they used to put into the lake. The last time they let stuff go at the power station theykilled the blackfish, hundreds of them. It was when they washed their turbines and theirpipes they must have used some chemical.

John; There have been three big fish kills caused by the Power Station. (Pat Clifford and JohnBrown)

Fish and prawns like the warm water With Munmorah Power Station beginning operation, there was an instant turnaround in the fishand prawn population. In the vicinity of the warm water outlets, fish could be caught all yearround. The same applied to prawns. Commercial quantities of prawns began to be taken duringthe colder months. (Gordon Browne) Effects on greasyback prawns We used to get a lot of greasyback prawns in the lakes. The school and king prawns breed atsea and the spawn comes back in, but the greasybacks breed in the lakes. Before the powerstation we used to get cycles of them. You got plenty of prawns. Then they put the power stationin. The spawn goes through and is cooked there and we got no greasybacks. The power stationis off now and the greasybacks are coming back. This year we had the most in years and years.(Arthur Clouten) Effects on prawning From what I have been told, they used to get a lot of prawns in Middle Lake and Top Lake.Since the power station has been there, no prawns. They used to get a few at the inlet that weregetting sucked into the power station. But that is it. And out in the lake there hasn't beenenough prawns to make it worth prawning. Every now and again someone would go up there,some blokes from Lake Macquarie would get a few kilos, a box or couple of boxes for a coupleof weeks. But there hasn't been prawns for any quantity to really worry about, except for theones that got sucked down the channel to the Power Station. The Power Station has been turnedoff a lot now and the greasybacks have come back. A coincidence or not? This year I got 17boxes in one go. Over 300 kilo. That was probably the best single catch I had. Others got 40boxes but that was more than one bloke. (Michael Clouten)

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Bream catches decline in Lake Munmorah Before they put the Power Station in, me and Jobbo (Herb Jobson) could go up there and get 10boxes of bream in a night just where they put the inlet channel in. After they got it going youcouldn’t do that. (Arthur Clouten) Fish and prawns killed on inlet screens When they built the Power Station they dug a big channel into the power station from LakeMunmorah and the water would come out at the top end of Budgewoi Lake. This would create afalse current coming back into Munmorah Lake as it circulated around. Well the amount ofprawns and little fish that go on the shields (the screens on the inlet), and are killed, istremendous! (Pat Clifford) Effect on fish catches? Interviewer: In Budgewoi lake the water from the power station was warm, was that good for

the fish? Would you get different types of fish? Pat: You get all the normal fish found in the lake. They did seem to like the warm water but

then there was still a loss on the screens. The power station would go 24 hrs a day nonstop. Just sucking them in every minute of the day.

Interviewer; So do you feel the power station changed the fishing or the health of the lakes. Pat: I don’t know. They still got fish, so it couldn’t have upset it to that extent anyway. I know

it killed a tremendous amount of spat & small prawns. Yet they still caught a certainamount too. (Pat Clifford)

Large prawns caught at the inlet canal Munmorah inlet channel became a prawning bonanza with large king prawns the main catch.Draws took place to determine who could set nets on each night. (Peter Clifford) Warm water increased weed growth The warmer water had a big influence on weed growth on the once clear sand-flats. I doubt ifthere is one sandflat left clear of heavy weed growth. The whiting grounds off Wallarah Creekare covered with dense weeds. The same applies to what once was the beautiful sandy area thatstretched from the creek along the southern and eastern shores of Lake Munmorah. ColongraBay is choked with weed growth where once it was an endless sandy bottom. (Gordon Browne) Warm water, changed currents and sludge pumped into Middle Lake. The temperature in the water would make you sick working in it, it was that hot, and it reversedthe way the water circulated. It was pumped out of Top Lake and into Middle Lake, then itcircles round and round, that must alter something. We used to catch a lot of daylight prawns inMiddle Lake, but after the Power Station got going (in 1967), you couldn’t work up herebecause what they were pumping to clean the channels out was just slush, as soon as you put theprawn net into the lake you couldn’t pull it even 20 yards, it would go into the muck and youcouldn’t pull it. Then all of a sudden it cleared up, and I think they must have stopped puttingthe stuff through. (Bill Byles) Lots of small fish at outlet The outlet (in Budgewoi Lake) was a great fishing spot for bream (warmer water) especiallysmall fish. Quite a few incidents took place when inspectors attempted to search recreationalfishermen for small fish and quotas. One man’s party was found with upward of 300 fish withvery few legal size. (Peter Clifford)

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Outlet channel made good fishing spot They closed the outlet channel to amateurs because they were catching all the small fish. Thefish seemed to love the hot water. (Bill Byles) Blubber killed by Power Station The Electricity Commission said the blubber (jelly fish) were blocking their screens, as theysucked the water in it was blocking their screens. They poisoned the water to kill the algae andkill the blubber and the ocky’s all went too. So we lost that. (Ernie Quinton) Bran used to stop leaks in condensers Eric: They were putting bran into the condensers to stop leaks. It was common knowledge. It

was hard to find the leaks. You see a condenser is like a radiator in your car so thewater went through there and cooled it for the boilers, it would come out the boilers.That was a circulation job, and then it went into the canal and flowed out to the lake.

Interviewer; So how would the bran locate the leaks? Eric; It would just block the leaks. A lot of the leaks were hard to find. Some of it would end up

in the lake too. (Eric Percival) Water was warmer all year round Interviewer; Was the water warmer when the power station was operating? Eric; Yes, you could go in and swim most of the year round. Interviewer; So it was quite a lot warmer then, even in winter? Eric; Yes, and there were plenty of fish in the warmer water. (Eric Percival) Lots of fish in outlet canal There were hundreds of fish in the (outlet) canal. You could throw a spear and you’d catch adozen. They liked the warm water and the feed. (Eric Percival) Jellyfish have gone but the prawns are now returning The jellyfish have gone since the powerhouse killed it off. Greasybacks are just starting to comeback, they weren’t here while the power house was working. (Mick Asquith) Types of weed are changing due to colder water now The weeds that the power house created, that is going, because the water is not as warm anymore (after the Power Station stopped operating). That’s just my opinion. (Mick Asquith) Shell life is now returning The lake is slowly getting better now that the power house is off, you now can find a live shell inthe lake, they’re only small but when the power house was going you couldn’t find them. Yousee they had to kill the barnacles; well by killing the barnacles they killed everything else.(Mick Asquith)

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10 Bird life The Tuggerah Lakes support an abundant and diverse population of waterbirds, including swans,pelicans, cormorants, ducks and waders. The surrounding forests, farmland and suburban areasalso support a variety of terrestrial birds. There have however, been some significant changes inabundance and species composition over the last 60-70 years. For some species, such as themusk duck, there has been a decline in abundance, but for others, such as the wood duck, therehas been a noticeable increase. For many species, it is difficult to determine whether there hasbeen a decrease or increase, particularly when there are large natural fluctuations associated withflood and drought conditions. In the 1920s 30s and 40s hunting of both waterbirds and terrestrial birds was relatively common.This provided an extra food source, particularly during the depression years of the 1930s. The most important issue for the conservation of both waterbirds and terrestrial birds around theTuggerah Lakes is the preservation of habitat. This includes mudflats, shallow sandbars,wetlands (such as those in the Tuggerah and Wyong areas) and riparian vegetation around boththe lakes and rivers. Less swans but still a good number Interviewer; Do you remember in the 1920s and 1930s lots of swans in these lakes? Peter; Yes, there always were, and there still are, but not as many now. We lived directly

opposite the big flat at Terilbah Island, that has been dredged away now. You used tohear them calling all night. The swans used to nest in Wyong Bay.

Interviewer; So you feel that there are less swans about now? Peter; There are less swans but there is still a good number. (Peter Clifford) Snipe on Terilbah mud flats Interviewer; What about waders or snipe? Peter; They are coming back. They used to be on the mud flats at Terilbah. I have eaten lots of

snipe. There are three or four different types of snipe. We called the little one the JackSnipe.

Interviewer; So there were lots there in the 20s and 30s? Peter; Heaps, then they disappeared for a while because they were shot, and now they are

coming back. (Peter Clifford) Hunting for birds in the 1920s and 30s In those days (1920s and 30s) you lived on the gun, you had to, it was the only fresh meatavailable. The nearest butcher was at Wyong, and lots of the meat came up by train from Sydneyin sugar bags, so you lived on the gun. We ate all types of snipe, ducks - teal and black mainly,pigeons, parrots, and gillbirds (wattlebirds). Ducks and gillbirds were shot for market. We’dalso shoot swan, especially the little cygnets, and anything else that got in the way such asherons and egrets. The gillbirds used to come here in flocks at certain times of the year,whereas today they seem to stay here all year round. (Peter Clifford) Shooting shags In those days there used to be a lot of shooting, guns were fairly prevalent in those days, andI’ve seen fellas sitting on the front of boats and shooting shags. If a shag was sitting on a log,or flying across or on the lake. (Mick Baker)

Bill Hansen has been a resident of Toukley for 60 years, and has memories of many fishing and hunting tripsaround the lakes.

Waterfront at Wallarah Pt in 1927 (Photo; Mitchell Library)

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Changes in bird species Interviewer; Back in the 1920s and 1930s would you see wood duck? Peter; Not that I can remember, but there are now lots on my brother-in-law’s property at

Tumbi. Another bird that is here now but we never used to see is the western top knotpigeon (crested pigeon). And another bird that has appeared recently is the cattle egret.....Along the lake you had red bills, coots, wigeons, musk ducks (there is still the odd onearound, but you don’t often see them now), rails and dotterels. And not far from Pat’splace at the North Entrance is where we would see the little terns, they used to nestthere. We called them stormy petrels. If you went over there they would run aroundwith one wing down pretending to be injured and you’d find three little eggs amongst abit of seaweed. (Peter Clifford)

Hunting pigeons Shooting parties would go into the corkwood stands near ‘deep dig’ about July, leaving in theearly afternoon in their launch and waiting for the pigeons to come for their evening feed. Theywould then sleep overnight and start shooting again at daylight. No huge numbers were killed,if they had taken less beer and spent more time hunting, numbers would have been greater.(Peter Clifford) Leatherheads and gillbirds Leatherheads and gillbirds were ‘piebirds’. gillbirds and leatherheads (friarbirds) arrived inAugust and September with the flowering of the eucalypts and paperbarks. They came in flocksand before the twenties the gillbirds were shot and taken to market. Today we seldom see morethan a couple of gillbirds together but they seem to have become resident, and breed over amuch wider area than previously. (Peter Clifford) Hunting waterbirds We’d have swan for Xmas dinner because it was all we could afford. We’d clean him, pluck himand then boil him. When he was nice and soft we’d shove him in with the ‘taties’ and bake him.That’s all we lived on, birds; pigeons, whatever we could shoot, legal or ill’. (ElizabethDenniss) Duck hunting In old days when the Redfern Fish Market was started, fishermen in winter months unable tocatch fish went to other work or duck shooting which was legal and ducks sent to the fishmarkets to be sold. As large areas of weed existed, ducks were plentiful especially BudgewoiLake, Tumbi Umbi, Wyong Bay and Big Bay, also Dark Corner (N-W corner of BudgewoiLake). (Arthur Clouten) Swans would breed in the swamps Interviewer: What about waterbirds. Lots of swans and things? Henry: Oh yes, more than there is now. None compared to then. We used to shoot them to eat.

Plenty of ducks too. Interviewer: Would there be lots of swans, over towards Chittaway Point where the weed is? Elizabeth: Yes, where the weed is. They’d always be thicker on that side of the lake. Lots of

swans. Henry: They would breed too. In Middle Lake there would be little birds all over the place. Elizabeth: In Wyong, where the showground is. Behind there was a big swamp. They always

nested in that, thousands of them. But I’ve never heard of a pelican breeding there.(Elizabeth and Henry Denniss)

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Waterbirds arrive when its dry out west Most of the ducks used to go away in breeding season. They go inland. Then come back. Theyonly came when the droughts were inland. A lot of the pelicans used to come and go also. Youcould tell when there was water inland, you wouldn’t see a bird, except for a few pelicans thatwould stay because Henry used to clean the fish up at the co-op and they’d get a feed. Theswans would go inland also. I don’t think there are as many swans around the lakes now. (Elizabeth Denniss) Ibis and snipe Interviewer: Would you see ibis? Elizabeth: I think you see more of them now, than we did then. Interviewer: What about near Terilbah Island where the mud flats were, would you get little

wader birds running around all the mud flats. Elizabeth: Yes, snipe, we’d eat them. Of course, in the depression we didn’t have much to eat.

(Elizabeth Denniss) Hunting pigeons When the pigeons used to come up from the bush, we used to shoot a lot of them. They wereflock pigeons. They fly around by the thousands. Sometimes when there used to be a lot of flockpigeons ( fly by, dad would come out and shoot them as they flew by. They only came when thecorkwoods was on and the palms were ripe. (Henry and Elizabeth Denniss) (Note; The locals use to call the topknot pigeon (Lopholaimus antarcticus) a ‘flock pigeon’. And they callthe crested pigeon the ‘top knot pigeon’. The crested pigeon only arrived in the Central Coast area in the1970s, presumably following urban development.) Musk ducks We’d see them (musk ducks) often, they were mainly in Top Lake but you’d see them in theother lakes too. You might see half a dozen or so. They mainly bred up in Colongra swamp, butthat’s another thing, when the power house was built they filled most of the swamp in. (MickAsquith) Musk ducks in Top Lake interviewer; Did you used to see musk ducks in the lake? Pat; Yes, Top Lake was just a living mass of musk ducks That was before I was married so that

was the 1930s I’d say there would have been thousands, they were just a living mass,nearly all of Top Lake was covered with musk duck. Top lake was a very isolated place,there were no houses around the lake and I think there were these mussels in the lakeand that is what they dived for. The last musk duck I have seen on this lake (TuggerahLake), like a bloody fool I shot the poor old fellow, it was up the eastern shore where thebig sandhill comes down to the lake. That was the last musk duck I have seen on thislake and was 30 years ago I suppose. And the last time I have seen a musk duckanywhere was at a place called Gulpra between Tilpa and Wanaaring on an anabranchof the Darling. (Pat Clifford)

Swans and musk ducks Interviewer; Would you see many swans on these lakes? Clarrie; Yes there were swans everywhere especially Middle Lake. We’d see them right through

the years until it was opened up to the public more or less. There aren’t as many now. Interviewer; Would you ever see cygnets as well? Clarrie: We didn’t see a lot of small ones, no, what we did see were musk ducks, I haven’t seen

one for years, they would be in Middle Lake, Tuggerah and Top Lake. You used to see 5to 6 at a time. I remember once we sent some to market, the agents used to be fish and

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game so you could sell ducks as well, we got paid for them. I haven’t seen any thoughsince the 70s. (Clarrie Wynn)

Duck hunting during the Depression People would go shooting ducks and teals, and even swans in the Depression years. There usedto be a lot of Teal, but not so many now. There are a lot of ducks now, which are much tamerthan they were years ago, because they are not shot at. (Clarrie Wynn) Pelicans Interviewer; Would you get the pelicans during the 1930s and 40s? Clarrie; On occasions there would be a couple of years without a pelican in sight because they

would go inland when the rain was on. When they got the dry times out west they wouldbe around in large numbers, up to 200-300. I think it depended on the water in therivers out west. They seem to be here all the time now. (Clarrie Wynn)

Black swans The increase in weed beds has brought more black swans onto the lakes. Prior to MunmorahPower Station coming on-line, the only areas I ever saw black swans was the sheltered weedy,eastern corner of Budgewoi Lake, south of the creek. They also could be found along the westernshore from Gorokan to Charmhaven feeding on weed in the shallows when the winds werefriendly. It was rare to see swans on Lake Munmorah as all its shallows were generally weed-free. (Gordon Browne) Ducks and pelicans One water-bird that once habited Lake Munmorah was the musk duck. The increase in powerboating promptly moved those to quieter havens. The black duck population has increased, moreso since the Power Station influenced the growth of weed. Another duck species that I had notever seen in the region before the weed increase, is the chestnut teal. There have also beenincreases in the number of wood ducks around the lakes. Beside the increase in feedcontributing to these increases, there was a decline in the number of persons shooting thembecause of the increase in human population. Pelicans were not as numerous in the early timesthat I can recall. They too have increased in numbers because of the increase in small fish dueto the warm water from the Power Station. (Gordon Browne) Waterbirds on Budgewoi Lake Behind where the (Toukley) golf club is now, was a wonderful swamp, and you could alwaysget wild duck, such as black duck and teal, and flock pigeons also. When there was a dry seasonin the west, they used to come here in the summer, thousands of ducks, swans and coot wouldturn up on the ‘Big Sand’. It was nothing to see thousands of ducks up there. The main oneswere the black duck and teal, there weren’t many wood ducks around in the early years. And inFebruary, when we were kids, it used to be great because the jack snipe used to come in, theones that migrate from Japan and Siberia, they used to come here in great numbers, up on thebig sand. In the last couple of years I saw a few outside here (at Peel St). (Bill Hansen) Musk ducks They (musk ducks) used to swim up and down out the front here (Peel St, Toukley), not a lot butthey were always around. I did see one recently, but you don’t see them like you used to. Youdon’t see them much now. (Bill Hansen)

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Snipe made good eating When the snipe arrived from Japan and Siberia, they were very lean, but in a very short time,the food here must have been so good, that after a couple of weeks they became so fat and plumpand were very good eating. ... The snipe used to favour the big sand area. This was a fantasticplace for a young fellow, I used to have a shotgun and a group of us would go up there to huntthem. We loved the outdoors and there was great fishing and hunting. (Bill Hansen) Pelicans in the 1940s and 50s There weren’t as many as there appears to be now. Pelicans now seem to be always swimmingup and down the shore here. (Bill Hansen) Jabiru Interviewer; Have you ever seen jabirus? Peter; Yes, they were at the swamp at Tuggerah and near Chittaway Point on the north side.

(Peter Clifford) Recent sighting of waterbirds on Budgewoi Lake This last summer (1997/98) we estimated at least 2,000 swans. They were obviously breedingin the area because we saw several groups of young. They had nearly all departed by April.There were very few waders this last summer - just a few spoonbills and a group of godwits.The previous summer there were large numbers of pied stilts. We have recently seen seven largeegrets whereas previously only one or two. We saw wood ducks for the first time in December1991. On two occasions in May 1993 we saw two jabirus but none since. There are a few ibisaround at present but there have been none of the small migratory waders this year. We oftensee small groups of black duck and chestnut teal. (Ron and Ena Scott) Swans John: We certainly used to see more than we see now, there’s not a great deal of them now. Pat; There can’t be any big breeding spot for them here, because we only ever see a few young

swans. (John Brown and Pat Clifford) Swans, ducks and pelicans Interviewer; What about waterbirds, swans for instance, back in the 40s? Bill; Yes, there were swans all around the lake, in Wyong Bay, Tumbi Bay, you’d hear them

going all night long. There are more ducks now than there were before. There are allsorts of ducks now. You only occasionally saw them before. ... People feed the ducksthese days. One of the reasons there weren’t any ducks years ago was because ifsomeone saw one they would get a gun out and shoot it and have it for dinner.

Interviewer; Has there been an increase or decrease in swans? Bill; I’m not sure, but pelicans are just as thick, they now come right up the river which they

never used to do. Recently the pelicans became a bit of a problem when hauling, as youwould have to try and keep them out of the net. You didn’t see them in the nets in the40s and 50s like you do now. I think they have learnt. (Bill Byles)

Swans Interviewer: Arthur, do you remember lots of swans on the lake back in the 1920s & 30s Arthur: Yes, in the 1920s at least a thousand, to fifteen hundred. They were near Tumbi, and

Wyong Bay and all along different parts of the lake, and Middle Lake & Top Lake also. Interviewer: Would you see them breeding. Arthur: No they go away and breed. Now and again they would breed here. Interviewer: Would they ever breed in the swamps near the racecourse? Arthur: Now and again they might. But mostly they went inland. (Arthur Clouten)

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Snipe at Terilbah Island The deep channel around the north of Terilbah Island was only recently made. It used to bemud flats there and you used to have lots of snipes there, they would feed on the mud flats. Butthey dredged the deep channel and used the sand and mud to build a park beside the road. Somost of the mud flats have gone now, but I did see a few snipes near Terilbah island just acouple of months ago. (Pat Clifford) Little egrets nesting A few months ago I went to Chittaway Point and there some little egrets nesting there next tothe lake. There were between 50 and 100 of them, they’ve been nesting there for about tenyears. (Pat Clifford) Swans nesting in swamps The swans use to nest in the swamps near Wyong Creek. I haven't seen them but my relationssaid there is a little creek that comes out of one of the bigger swamps there and they have seenthe mother bring the little swans out of the swamp there and take them down Wyong Creek andtake them out along Wyong Bay. Tumbi Bay & Wyong Bay is the main place for Black Swans.They feed on the stack grass, and the ribbon weed, they feed on the roots. (Pat Clifford) Waterbirds still plentiful 3 or 4 years ago there was the most ducks I have ever seen in my life here. Mainly ChestnutTeal. And a few months ago I saw a few thousand swans just out here on the lake. Whereverthere is a bit of weed they will come and feed on it. (Pat Clifford) Sea-eagles I see the big ‘sea eagles’. They have got nests here. We used the sea-eagles as publicity whentrying to save the red gum forest from mining. They come and take a bit of fish out of your netsoccasionally. It is a beautiful bird. (Pat Clifford) Hunting the flock pigeons Interviewer: Back in the 30s did people shoot the water birds at all? Pat: Yes, we used to go up the bush here and shoot those great big blue flock pigeons. We used

to get them alright. A very popular bird. Not the wonga pigeon, but the flock pigeon.The wonga’s were up there too but you were lucky to see one. (Pat Clifford)

Hunting ducks for food supply Interviewer: What about ducks? Did you hunt ducks for food? Pat: Sometimes we used to, we’d shoot teal. When I first got married I went out and shot a

swan. You see supplies used to run out a lot in those days. When my grandparents firstcame here they used to take the fish out by boat from Noraville, from Cabbage Tree Bayto Sydney. If the weather came bad, and it was nothing to have a gale for a fortnight,they would run out of supplies and have to walk into Gosford. And you wouldn’t carrymuch out from Gosford. It is long way. (Pat Clifford)

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11 A second entrance Although it has been suggested that there was once a second opening to the Tuggerah Lakes at‘the gap’ (at the north-eastern corner of Budgewoi lake), there is little evidence to suggest thatthis was ever the case since European settlement. There are however many recollections ofwaves washing over the dunes and into the lake at ‘the gap’ during large storms. Waves have washed over dunes occasionally Interviewer; Has the sea ever reached the sandhills just north of Budgewoi so that waves have

broken into Lake Budgewoi near the large sand bar? Resident 3; Not really - it did break over a bit and some residents started to dig a channel but

were stopped. Extremely rough seas occasionally drain a little water to the lake but it isvery rare and not very often. (Resident since 1898, interviewed in 1963)

No second entrance If anybody tells you there was another inlet at Budgewoi Lake - it never was. The only timewater came in there (it floods along there) was heavy seas used to wash across it. (ErnieQuinton) No channel at ‘the gap’ Pop came here when he was 2 yrs old and they used to live at Canton Beach. His first job wasto build a lighthouse. He said a big sea would wash across, but he could never remember adistinctive channel. A lot of people say they have. He can’t remember it. He was 90 old whenhe died. He died about 10 years ago. ... It is built up there now. To this day, if it was flatthere, it would still come across. (Elizabeth Denniss) Sandhills built up to stop the waves When you go along just north of where the Toukley golf course is, that was very low and in bigseas the water would come over there and after they mined it they made sure they built the duneup higher. .... And before that the Council used to put logs down to try and stop the roadwashing away in floods. (Clarrie Wynn) ‘The Gap’ From the lake to the sea at the Budgewoi end is but a few hundred metres and the dunes werevery low, often the wave tops could be seen while driving past the area which was named TheGap . Wyong Shire Council dumped large amounts of tree stumps along the dunes in recentyears so wind blown sand would built up over them to form a higher dune. Previously heavyseas occasionally broke over the low dune, washing large amounts of sand onto the roadway.Mrs. Elizabeth Hargraves reported when she first arrived in the area as a child bride, a shallowentrance to the lake still existed at ’The Gap’. During enormous storms, massive amounts ofsand were washed into the lake to form the sand-flat that stretches from the sand hills to BuffPoint. (Gordon Browne) No evidence of a second opening In my life time there has never been a second entrance to the lakes. When the rutile miningwent through this area, no evidence of a second entrance showed up. Back in about 1932 thesand dunes were very low in height and the seas came over the sand dunes into the lake during abig storm with strong easterly winds. This occurred about where the Lakes Surf Club is today.(Keith Southwell)

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Waves breaking into Lake Munmorah I have seen a big sea on high tide, rushing down through the trees and flowing into MunmorahLake, north of Budgewoi camping ground. I only ever saw that happen once. There used to be aforest of big paperbarks up there but they all suddenly got severe dieback and most of these havegone. (Allan Whitham)

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12 Dredging, siltation and reclamation Dredging of channels and reclamation of foreshores has been occurring since early this century.One of the first sites to be dredged was the mouth of Wyong Creek to provide better access forfishing boats. Dredging of channels at The Entrance occurred early this century so that thelaunches bringing holiday makers from Wyong Railway Station could reach the jetties near theguest houses on both the south and north side of the channel. A number of artificial islands,including Pelican Island, were made from the dredged material. Over the years a number of other spots around the lakes have been altered by either dredging orreclamation of foreshores. These include; • Deepening of the channel from Budgewoi past Green Point and around to Buff Point in the

1960s for water recirculation from the Power Station • Reclamation of swamp land at the present site of the Toukley Golf Course with material

dredged from the Buff Point to Budgewoi Channel • Deepening of the channel at Budgewoi which connects Munmorah and Budgewoi Lakes for

improved water recirculation for the Power Station • Reclamation of a small area of land where the Toukley Aquatic Club now stands • Filling in of the south channel at The Entrance. This channel used to pass through where the

Memorial Park is today. This occurred in about the 1930s. • Deepening of the channel on the north side of Terilbah Island and reclamation of the

surrounding mudflats to create a park. This occurred as part of the Lakes RestorationProject in the 1990s.

• Dredging of the entrance channel. This has occurred sporadically for many years and there

is now a policy of continually dredging the channel to maintain a permanent opening. • Reclamation of land at Picnic Point on the south side of the channel at The Entrance. (part

of the Lakes Restoration Project in the early 1990s) • As part of the Lakes Restoration Project in the late 1980s and early 1990s, reclamation of

10-50 metres of land at various sites around the lake including; Long Jetty to Berkeley Vale,Canton Beach, and the southern and western shores of Lake Munmorah.

The Lakes Restoration Project in the late 1980s and early 1990s was quite controversial andalthough it produced some extra parkland along the lake shore, many of the people interviewedbelieve it did not improve the lake environment itself and in some cases might have caused somedamage.

Pelican Island was made by dredging There was an old steam dredge that built up Pelican Island in about the 1920s, to keep the areaopen for boats going to Wyong. They pumped the sludge onto Pelican Island. I’ve got an ideathat Pelican is manmade. (Gordon Bennett)

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Pelican Island and dredgingElizabeth: That little island has been built, those islands weren’t there. The dredge put those

there. The only natural one is the big one.Interviewer: The one called Pelican Island is the little one? And Terilbah Island is the only

natural island?Elizabeth: Yes; the others have been built by the dredges.Henry: There was a nice big flat over here where the island is now. And when you come out of

Wyong River there is another big island there. That is from the dredge. You see it usedto be straight through but when they dredged it they dredged it out to the side. (Henryand Elizabeth Denniss)

Dredging at The Entrance early this centuryA map of The Entrance which was drawn by Fishing Inspector Gordon in 1914 shows all thechannels and mud flats. The original map is now with the Fisheries Department. Some of thesechannels had been dredged so that the ferries from Wyong could come in. The Dunleith channelwas dredged again when my grandmother split up the land on the North Entrance in about 1922.The map shows that there was about 20 feet of water near the wharves at The Entrance whereTaylor’s wharf was. (Peter Clifford)

Reclamation at Dunleith(looking at photo) Here is the end of Hutton Road at the North Entrance, if you go down to theend now there is a parking area. That used to have 15 foot of water there once. Now it is dryland and a park. Where the Dunleith Caravan park is now, the ferries used to come in there,and those boats used to draw a lot of water. (Pat Clifford)

The Entrance channel near Dunleith I mentioned the size of Terilbah Island and that it has been extended. They have also reclaimedan area at the end of Hutton Road. And the channel past Dunleith used to be deeper, quite largelaunches used to use a wharf there. (Doug Duffy)

The south channel at The Entrance When you go over to The Entrance pub, the channel used to come in around the front of thepub, and come right up to the war memorial in the town, the channel used to go right around theedge, there is a row of pine trees there. That is where the south channel used to go, upunderneath the gun and come back out by the pine trees down the channel. In underneath thatgun there used to be about 10 or 15 foot of water there. That used to be the swimming hole forthe kids. And where the Memorial Park is was an island. It was filled in the 1930s. (PatClifford)

Dredging the mouth of Wyong River early this century In about 1890 the Fisheries inspector came down from the Myall Lakes, and they couldn't rollthe boat out of Wyong River because of the silt. In the 1920s they went and dredged thechannel into Wyong River A chap got the job to go down on the southern side of Tacoma andcut a little channel so they could go into Wyong Bay. They couldn't get out the entrance of theWyong River but they made this little narrow gutter out the side. This was so the fishermancould get in and out. (Pat Clifford)

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Budgewoi channel When the Power Station was constructed, they dredged a big channel from Buff Pt around toMunmorah Lake. Before that was dredged, we had a job getting into Top Lake from herebecause there used to be a ford across the channel at Budgewoi, and it only had about 3 inchesof water across it. (Pat Clifford)

The ‘big sand’ had sand and mud pumped onto it in 1960s The big sand has never altered, except when they dredged the channel and they pumped about 6inches of sand and mud onto it. They pumped the sand onto where the golf course is now butsome of the sand and mud came back out onto where the ‘big sand’ itself is. And they pumpedanother lot of sand up along the road between the surf club and Budgewoi to build that area up.They would have leaks in their pipes which they didn’t worry about and you would get humps ofsand forming where the pipe went. There was about 6 inches of silt all over the ‘big sand’ thatcame from the dredging and pumping and that is just starting to clear up now. That point northof the golf course, it is now about 300 yards further out than it used to be because of thepumping of sand there. If you walk around there, you’ll pick it because you’ll see a row of bigtrees further inland and that is where the edge of the lake used to be. (Mick Asquith)

Dredging of channel from Buff Point to Lake Munmorah in 1960s They dredged all along here, its deeper now. They had a pipeline and they pumped the sandover to the swamps where the golf course is now. In the beginning you could walk from hereacross to the sand bank on the other side, before they dredged it . (Eric Percival)

Reclamation at Peel St on Budgewoi Lake There was a corner in the lake near where the Aquatic Club is now, near Peel St, that cornerwould always have weed washing up on shore and would always have a weedy smell. But thenthey dredged near there and filled in the corner and built the Aquatic Club there. I think theAquatic Club was built in the late 60s or early 70s, I can’t really remember. There used to be asmall reef off there, but that has been covered over. (Mick Asquith)

Recent changes to waterfront along Leonard Ave In the 1970s the reserve used to have some swampy areas which had about 6-12 inches of waterin them and there was thick stands of rushes and reeds. It was filled in probably about the earlyto mid 1980s but we cannot recall exactly. Since then there are less frogs. The bird life has alsochanged. Many of the birds we used to see have disappeared from the reserve including a nativehen that used to live among the rushes. No young trees can develop in the reserve owing to itbeing regularly mowed with tractors. Two or three years ago the shoreline of the reserve wasextended outwards about 5-6 metres into the lake with sand dredged, we understand, from TheEntrance channel. … The sandy beach that was formed in the reserve is now completelyovergrown by grass. (Ron and Ena Scott)

Dredging the entrance channelInterviewer: What happens when they dredge the channel?Pat: They come and pump it out on one tide and the next big flood tide fills it all in again. (Pat

Clifford)

Terilbah Island and a new channel There used to be mud flats on the north-eastern side of Terilbah Island but they have nowdredged a deep channel and filled the rest in. That was only recently. (Doug Duffy)

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Lake Restoration Project Started in 1985-86, 13.5 million dollars from a state government grant. Main activities werethe deepening of shallow waters and reclaiming the shores with the excavated sand, at CantonBeach, Long Jetty, the north channel of the Entrance near Terilbah Island, and south side ofLake Munmorah. Also dredging the main entrance channel, and the construction of silt traps,wetland plants and trashracks on stormwater drains. It has made some nicer areas for BBQsand aesthetically the foreshores look nicer, but no money was spent on reducing nutrientsentering the lakes from the catchment. So it did not address some of the causes of the problemsit only addressed the more noticeable symptoms, ie the condition of the foreshores. (JohnMcPherson)

Lakes Restoration Project didn’t help Council’s ambitious brochure produced when they were granted lake upgrade monies someyears ago was only partially implemented with debatable results. Of the relatively small areasof foreshore that received attention, there has certainly been improvement in the land reservearea, but the benefit to the lake edge is not so noticeable and there are some areas wheredredging has created a quick-sand situation. (Ray Catterall)

Restoration Project made Top Lake worse They dredged it (the shallows of Top Lake) and they put the sand and that up on the shore, theymade it worse, they made a bog hole, it is all silt now. It is muddier than it used to be. They putthe sand up on the shore and the silt just washed back in. One part of Top Lake would now havetwo foot of silt where it used to be sand. That’s happened near the bowling club and all aroundthat shore. There was also a reef on that side of the lake and that is covered over now, that reefwas good for fish. (Mick Asquith)

Lake restoration kills weed beds The dredging around the lakes, that is bad because it is affecting the weed beds. It is notserving any purpose. (Pat Clifford)

Fish trapped behind bund walls at Canton Beach during dredging work(looking at newspaper article of fish trapped by bund walls at Canton Beach during the dredgingoperation as part of the Lakes Restoration Project) This is at Canton Beach in 1993. That iswhat they trapped. … It was a big area, but they didn’t think they would get this many fish.There were eels and all types of fish. They reckon there were three truck loads, thirty thousandfish carted away. (Michael Clouten)

Lake restoration project at Berkeley Vale In the late 1980s … they brought the swamp cats down and they started to push all the ooze inthe shallow water up onto the reserve. Unfortunately one of the fellows doing the work was notvery competent and he was pushing as much back into the lake as he was bringing out. It is notreally mud, it is decayed seaweed and it gets stirred up very easily. The swamp cats just stirredit all up. The stuff was all left in big humps and hollows it was a terrible job. (Allan Whitham)

Lake Restoration Project at The Entrance From the bridge they made a channel up the lake past Terilbah Island. And they also made achannel all the way down towards Long Jetty. And they dumped the sand along the shore. Theoak trees (Casuarinas) are taking it over now. They have also dumped sand right aroundKillarney to Tumbi, where there was only mud on the foreshore. The sand came out of the lake.At Picnic Point the houses used to be only 100 feet from the lake, but it has all been filled in andthe houses are now 200-300 yards from the lake. (Pat Clifford)

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Effects of Lake Restoration Project at Canton Beach At Canton Beach the council put in a bulldozer and made it into ponds. In the early 90s theybuilt walls, and took all the mud out. But by doing that they took the sand and dug it back toclay. Through all that movement and what they have done there, and stirred it up. But all theydid was restore the beach, all the money went into the foreshores, and not the lake. (ErnieQuinton)

Lake Restoration Project along west side of Lake Munmorah About 8 years ago, they did outside here. They constructed a bund wall in the shallows, andthen dredged sand and mud from further out and filled up the area inside the bund wall. That isthe area of reclaimed land that is now grass. They did the same at Canton Beach. I used tohave a 50ft reserve in front of my house, now I have a 200 foot reserve. I can’t get a boat out tothe water’s edge easily like I used to be able to, it’s too far. (Arthur Sterrit)

Lakes Restoration Project A few years ago there was a move to clean up Canton Beach. Using an excavator, a series ofdams were formed, the water pumped out and they removed some of the mud and sand. I havebeen up there a couple of times since. A little over a year ago I was up there prawning andthere was evidence of the weed coming back. I was appalled to see the regrowth of weed whichat that time was 100-150 millimetres long. And when I was up there just recently, the weed wasfully grown again and spread out a lot. At the rate of regrowth in that 12 months, I wonder if theclean up was worthwhile. (Doug Duffy)

Lakes Restoration Project at Canton Beach The bulldozing and restoration of Canton Beach did a lot to destroy the weed and eliminate themud, but only for a short time. Weed is prevalent again. (Ray Holmes)

Lake Restoration Project - weed is back so is the mud The weed has grown back and there is as much as before. The foreshore they extended atCanton Beach is very nice for tourists, it is grassy and there are nice picnic areas, the samedown at Long Jetty, but the weed is still there. It didn’t achieve much long term. The weed isstill there and it is as muddy as ever. (Trevor Spiers)

Killing weed beds during Lakes Restoration Project They were removing the weed beds, and Fisheries have now acknowledged that these weed bedsare essential to the fish. Fisheries have stepped in and won’t allow it any more. (John Brown)

Lake not restored There was no lake restoration, it was only foreshore restoration. (Gordon Denniss)

The top photo shows the Gedling’s waterfront at Gorokan in 1959-60. Swimming was a popular activity in thelake at that time. The paperbark shown in this photo was planted in 1956 about 2 metres from the water’s edge.The siltation along the shore line from a nearby stormwater drain has gradually reduced the depth of the lake somuch that the tree is now about 10 metres from the lake edge (bottom photo). Also note that the sandy beach

has disappeared.

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13 Miscellaneous topics

Mine subsidenceInterviewer: I went up the western side of Munmorah Lake recently in a canoe and I noticed

some mine subsidence along the edge of the lake near the inlet canal.Mick; Oh yes, the edge of the lake there is going down. Where it used to be knee deep is now

over my shoulders, it is subsiding. The oaks are all dead now they are a metre under thewater now. We’ve had mine subsidence around Buff Point too, they took some housesdown near here. I reckon we have it here too, my concrete is cracking, it is at least 4inches thick and it is cracking. I don’t think I can do much about it. There’s so manyplaces around here with the problem, and they just blame it on that earthquake atNewcastle. (Mick Asquith)

Mine subsidence Houses were pulled down near Buff Point in the last ten years, about 20 houses have beenbought and taken down. On Edgewater Rd, and it was made into a park. These houses were onlow ground anyway and the subsidence put them lower. (Janeille Gates)

Mine subsidence at Buff Point Our property was affected in February 1990 by mine subsidence. The area subsided bybetween 300mm and 500mm. Lake is also deeper owing to mine subsidence. (KeithSouthwell)

Acid sulphate soils They tell me they put 100 ton of lime along Killarney Vale. And yet they claim that the acidsulphate wasn’t a problem and didn’t kill the weed. Well if the acid sulphate isn’t a problemwhy are they putting so much lime down? (Michael Clouten)

Sandmining near Budgewoi The sandhills near the beach were mined in the late 50s and early 60s and the sandhills used tobe much larger than they are now. (Janeille Gates)

SandminingInterviewer; When was the sand mining done near Top Lake?Clarrie; The late 1960s. The whole eastern side was mined. They had a processing plant there

too. They mined right down the beach to Noraville. When you go along just north ofwhere the Toukley golf course is, that was very low and in big seas the water wouldcome over there and after they mined it they made sure they built the dune up higher.(Clarrie Wynn)

SpeedboatsInterviewer; Out of interest, when did the speed boats start arriving on the lake?Bill; In the early 80s I think. It has destroyed the area for me, because of the noise factor. And

now we have jet skis also. I wouldn’t invite anyone over here if there was a racemeeting on. Some of the elderly neighbours have now moved out because of the noise. Ihave also observed oil slicks coming out of the boats on occasions. (Bill Hansen)

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ReferencesClouten K. (1967) Reid’s Mistake, the story of Lake Macquarie from its discovery until 1890.

Lake Macquarie Shire Council.

IDC (1979) Tuggerah Lakes Study Report, Final Report. Published by the Tuggerah LakesInterdepartmental Committee, NSW Government.

Stinson, E. (1979) A pictorial history of the Wyong Shire, volume one. (4th edition 1994).Wyong Shire Council, Wyong, NSW.

Swancott (1963) Blue Gum Flat to Budgewoi, The story of Wyong Shire’s wonderful valleys,lakes and beaches. Brisbane Water Historical Society.

Documents

The Ecology of the Tuggerah Lakes An Oral History · 2005-10-14 · This report presents the oral history of the Tuggerah Lakes which was obtained by interviewing local residents