Fish sign

Sign

Fishing bounty

The waters of the Peel-Harvey estuary provided a rich bounty for the region’s Aboriginal people, who would use mungah, or fish traps, to channel fish into small areas where they could catch them by hand. One of the few early references to Europeans fishing is of Aboriginal people teaching Henry Edward Hall to fish on the estuary. Europeans’ initial attempts at providing fish to market were unsuccessful as they lacked a way to keep fresh fish cool. This sparked the idea for the fish canning industry to follow. It wasn’t until the onset of refrigeration and road transport, after WWII, that Mandurah fishermen were able to supply fresh fish to markets in Perth and Fremantle.

Available at:

Mandurah Museum

A march through history

Wandering through the carefully curated rooms of Mandurah Museum is like meandering back in time. You’ll start your journey in the time when Aboriginal people were the only inhabitants of the region...

Address:

3 Pinjarra Rd
Mandurah WA 6210
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9550 3680

Email:

museum@mandurah.wa.gov.au

Open Hours

Tues to Fri 10am - 3pm; closed Sat to Mon.

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Cadbury Tray

Relic of an early woman entrepreneur

The early 1900s were, perhaps, not noted for women entrepreneurs but one astute business woman bucked the trend, launching a series of successful businesses. Silvina Lanyon launched her business...

Fish tin

Canned fish - a solution to export fish product

This fish tin is reminiscent of the heydays of Peel’s fish canning industry. The industry sprung to life after initial attempts at delivering fresh fish to market in Fremantle by boat were thwarted by...