Preparing the traps

Tyson Lovett-Murray and Sean Bell from the Gunditjmara people place a traditionally woven kooyang (short finned eel) basket in a wooden frame to catch kooyang at the Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area.

The Gunditjmara people have traditionally farmed and harvested kooyang for thousands of years.  The Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area is at the southern section of the Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape in the far southwest of Victoria. 

Before European settlement in the district, the traditional aquaculture systems at Tyrendarra had flowing water and were managed throughout the year.  Today, the winter rains only seasonally inundate the aquaculture systems.  The Gunditjmara are working towards reinstating a more permanent water supply for the Tyrendarra IPA wetlands to farm and harvest kooyang at the site.

Damein Bell, 2010. Photograph

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Image courtesy of the Winda Mara Aboriginal Corporation