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5. CHANGES in the CRAYFISHING INDUSTRY.
History of some of the changes in the crayfishing industry.
The first major change came to the fishing fleet in the 1950's when local men started building their own boats from Marine Bondwood. The sheets of bondwood were glued in place and finished with copper nails. The boats were about 30 to 35 feet long and powered by a diesel engine. They were equipped with an echo sounder which showed the ocean bottom. Flags were used to mark the position of the pots.
Then came a return to the wooden plank boats which were longer and had 100 horsepower engines, these went out further and stayed out for 2 or 3 days. These boats were fitted with radar. Aluminium wine cask liners attached to the flag poles were picked up on radar making it easier to locate the pots.
By the 1970's fibreglass was used in boat building. Most of the fibreglass boats were built in Western Australia and road freighted to Adelaide, launched and sailed to Kingston. Today a lot of the boats are made from aluminium so are lighter and faster and because they can cover greater distances in a day there is no need to stay out fishing overnight.
They all have GPS (Global Positioning Systems) connected to a computer which is programmed to exactly where the pots are. They allow for changes in drift and tides. The auto-pilot can be set and the crew relax until they reach the area where the pots are.
Info courtesy Kingston branch of the National Trust.
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