Ghost nets

I had never heard of a Ghost net before moving to FNQ. They are however an important part of life up here - having both negative and also now positive impacts on local life. If you look up the definition under Ghost Nets Australia, this is what you get.....

Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned at sea, lost accidentally, or deliberately discarded. They travel the oceans of the world with the currents and tides, continually fishing as they progress through the waters. As they are unattended and roaming they fish indiscriminately, not only catching threatened species but undersized and protected fish as well.

What is GhostNets Australia?

Northern Australia supports an array of marine and coastal species, including six of the worlds seven marine turtle species and four sawfish species, many of whose populations have declined elsewhere. Ghost nets are part of vast rafts of marine debris arriving from south east Asia that are fouling this otherwise pristine coastline, which is mostly owned and occupied by Indigenous peoples of Australia.

GhostNets Australia is an alliance of over 22 indigenous communities from coastal northern Australia across the three states of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.  The programme was established in 2004 with funding from the Australian Government. Since its inception, the programme has supported Indigenous Rangers to remove over 7,500 ghost nets of varying sizes.  This has resulted in the recovery of a proportion of the trapped wildlife, particularly marine turtles (52%), and the prevention of the ghost nets from returning to the sea to continue their destructive life-cycle. Less than 10% of these nets have been attributed to Australian fisheries.

This project is also enabling Aboriginal communities to fulfil their aspirations of having stewardship of their customary lands and adjacent marine environment, known as "caring for country."

The positive spin on this is the wonderful work the people of Ghost Nets Australia do in recovering the nets, helping the animals and then turning the nets into wonderful pieces of art.
Set up under a beautiful tree, Ghost Nets Australia were an integral part of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair 2012 and provided a soothing space to retreat from the madness of wheeling and dealing at the Art Fair. The work they do helping and mentoring people to create a little piece of magic from a ghost net is fabulous but the best part of it is the creations they produce. Absolute works of art and I am in awe of how they produce them!

Here is a taste of some of the pieces.

the king!

Squid

Shark

Indigenous Art in Cairns

The Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (now in its 4 year) was an experience I was lucky enough to enjoy from the 'inside'. Three weeks before it began I found myself agreeing to help the artists from the Yarrabah Arts Centre prepare for and attend the art fair for the very first time. They had been working hard for months and had a large number of paintings, pots and weaving ready for the fair.

We loaded up my new ute and headed into Cairns for a whirlwind introduction to the world of art fair, galleries, collectors and the all important arts bodies and funding people.

Our stand was colourful and the four artists spent most of their time there which was a great bonus. People were so pleased to meet them, hear the story behind the painting and also get a photo of them with the artist when they purchased one. The paintings literally flew out of the door.

On the few moments we were able to take time off the stand, there was so much else to see. The day was filled with various traditional dance groups including the winners of last years Laura Dance Festival, The Lockhart River Dancers. Their lead dancer, Josiah Oomeenyo, is the artist of several paintings we bought in Lockhart River last year so it was great to see him in action. I was even able to give him a photo I took last year at the Laura Dance Festival.

The other amazing dancers were the Taureg dancers from Torres Strait and they were thrilling with their dramatic island warrior style. There just wasnt enough time to see it all - its was fabulous.