Bowen, 1999:

North Queensland

"The northernmost trap recorded for North Queensland is in Quarantine Bay, near Cooktown (EP. A81).  The stone wall trap was arc-shaped and in good condition when recorded in 1978.  Britnell (1991:56) reported a trap on the north shore of Cooktown that was built by Aborigines after World War II but which has since disappeared.  This is not the same trap as EP.A81.  The original site record indicates there was no local knowledge of who built it and Britnell (pers. comm. 1996) has subsequently suggested it is non-Aboriginal in origin although he did not qualify this statement.

A fish trap with walls 1 metre high is reported on High Island (FM:A31), near Cairns but no other details are provided.

Bird (1994b:18) identified a weir on the southern side of Clump Point, near Mission Beach.  This weir covered an area 52 metres in width by 39 metres in length and was surrounded on all sides by basalt boulders.

The complex of traps at Scraggy Point and Missionary Bay on Hinchinbrook Island have been described by a number of people (Banfield 1909:54, Stephens 1946, Jones 1961:8, Brayshaw 1977: 251, Campbell 1979, 1982, Sutton 1986:12).  There were seven traps at Missionary Bay (FL:A49); each was funnel shaped and stood alone.  The trap at Scraggy Point (FL:A23) had a total area of 20,000 m² and consisted of 'loops, pools, breakwaters and funnels' (Campbell 1982:25).  Much of the trap was covered by mangroves.  Campbell (1979:24-5) argued that there are remains of an earlier trap system below the lowest tide level, which may have been built at a time of lower sea or land levels and which he suggested could be up to 8,000 years old.  Campbell (1982) has since suggested that the complex was built to feed large numbers of people.  Walsh (1986:10) thought that the sophisticated design of some of the walls meant they were probably built by early European settlers.  Stephens (1945) suggested the Scraggy Point trap had not been used since the 1890s.

A stone wall trap on nearby Goold Island (FL:A46) has been buried by sediment.  The trap was arc-shaped and had a double wall at the apex.  The maximum wall height was 52 centimetres although most walls have collapsed (Walsh 1986:7).  The trap was set in a drainage channel 40 metres south-west of a fresh water creek mouth.  The trap had an enclosure area of approximately 4,000 m² (Campbell 1979:27).

Bird (1996b:5, citing N. Heijm) reports a number of traps on Palm Island that are regularly used and maintained by members of the contemporary Aboriginal community.  No other details of these traps are available.

Bird (1987:123) found a stone wall fish trap approximately 300 metres south of R.M. Point at Upstart Bay (GK:A52).  The trap stretched 15 metres from nearby mangroves across the mudflats.  Bird indicated part of the wall was covered by mud and that the trap as a whole might therefore be more extensive.  Milne (1990) described seven arrangements of stone on Mine Island, near Cape Upstart, that may be fish traps.  Lines of stones were located around the edge of the island and were shaped as arcs, funnels and straight walls.  These lines were no more than one stone deep and individual stones were spaced apart, which made their role ambiguous.  Milne (1990:95) arguesd that the stone lines may have been foundations for organic walls, although she was not able to rule out the possibility that they were stone arrangements.  Andrew Bordor 1998 pers. Comm.) who has also inspected this site believes it is a stone arrangement rather than a fish trap.

An arc-shaped stone wall trap was located at Abbot Point (GK:A10).  The trap was built on a tidal flat.  In the dunes behind the trap was a lagoon that is said to have contained much wildlife.

Hill (1981:9) described a stone wall trap at Adelaide Point, near Bowen (GJ:A37). The trap was arc-shaped with long arms at the landward end, and was broken at the seaward end.  It was 1.5 metres in width and approximately 6.5 metres in length.  The trap was only visible at low tide.

Barker (1992:33) described a stone weir at Woodwark Bay that extended 15 metres across a tidal creek.  In an earlier survey Barker (1988:8, 10) found a stone wall fish trap at Midge Point (HJ:A29) and at the southeastern point of Covering Beach (HJ:A36).  The Midge Point trap was a rectangular shape, 16 metres in length by 14 metres across; the average wall height was 70 centimetres.  The trap at Covering Beach was a single stone wall placed between two natural rock walls.  The stone wall was aligned north-east, was 13 metres long and 60 centimetres tall at its highest point.  It rested upon a rock platform approximately 250 metres east of the high water mark.  Testimony of local residents and the presence of a graded road to the Midge Point trap led Barker (1992: 10,12) to conclude it was built by non-Aboriginal fishermen.  A graded road leading to the Covering Beach trap also suggested to Barker it was a non-Aboriginal construction.  Barker found enough difference between the traps and the weir at Woodwark Bay to argue that the latter was an Aboriginal construction.

Three traps have been observed at Freshwater Point, south of Mackay.  The first (HH:A40) was arc-shaped, made of stone and had two pens.  This trap was approximately 90 metres long by 40 metres wide.  It sat on the southern side of the Point.  The second (HH:A42) was actually two stone wall traps approximately 80 metres apart.  Both traps were arc-shaped and were located in the inter-tidal zone near the mouth of Sarina Inlet.

Bird (1996b:4) described a stone wall arc-shaped fish trap at Hay Point.  The trap sat near the shoreline and ran about 60 to 65 metres across inter-tidal mud flats. It had a maximum width of 2.2 metres and the walls had a maximum height of 40 centimetres.  The walls appeared to have partially collapsed over time; wave and tidal movement had moved individual stones and several sections of the wall.  Nevertheless, the site was described as being in relatively good condition.

A few traps and weirs made of organic materials have been reported in the area.  Roth (1901) described such a weir at Princess Charlotte Bay:

It was 100 feet (30m) long, formed of composite cross-piece along which dozens of thin switches from 8-10 feet (2.4-3m) high rested.  Upright forked timbers supported the 5-6 logs that made the cross-piece; they reached the height of flood levels. The switches were firmly stuck in the mud rested at at angle on the upstream side of the weir to resist water movement.  Nets were fixed at the extreme edges of the weir to trap fish trying to escape; as the water further receded fish were speared or captured.' (Roth 1901:23).

Hale and Tindale (1933:110) also observed an organic weir at Bathurst Head, Princess Charlotte Bay.  The weir was a brush wall approximately 7.5 metres long that dammed a mangrove creek.  It may have been built by the same people who built the weir described by Roth. Banfield (1977:141) reported that the Aborigines of Dunk Island made traps from lawyer cane (Calamus sp.)." 

---

Citation and/or URL

Bowen, G. (1999). Indigenous fish traps and weirs of Queensland - An overview, assessment and recommendations. Report to the Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra and Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane. 

---

Spatial Coverage

Queensland

---

Temporal Coverage

1901 onwards

---

Update Frequency

Not applicable 

---

Other Information

None