Darwin Harbour Clean-up mission makes huge difference on land and water
Darwin Harbour is renowned as one of the best fishing spots in Northern Australia and it’s in a much better state due to the work of volunteers from a range of community groups at the annual Larrakia Nation Clean-Up.
A total of 117 volunteers from 18 organisations supported the 14th annual Clean-up project last week with 231 bags of rubbish removed from the waterway.
OzFish, Australia’s recreational fishing charity, was proud to do its part to help this important project.
Darwin Harbour is eight times the size of Sydney Harbour so there was a large area to cover with the Larrakia Rangers coordinating the clean-up mission with 13 sites on land and water.
The volunteers were greeted with sunny skies for the project last Wednesday with more work done over the weekend, with Rapid Creek Landcare Group, AFANT and the Casuarina Coastal Reserve Landcare Group among the community organisations who rolled up their sleeves, along with students from the Clontarf Foundation and Stars Foundation.
Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation Ranger Manager Ben Smith said more than 1.3 tonnes of rubbish was removed from the land and water.
“Our motto is ‘bin it or take it with you’, we want to keep the harbour in pristine conditions,” he said.
Items such as metal bottle caps, plastic drink bottles, glass and ceramics, metal and aluminium, and car tyres were an all-too-common site for the volunteers as they removed the rubbish.
The City of Darwin has also begun its annual pre-cyclone clean-up campaign to make even more of an impact on the environment.
“We are grateful for all the volunteers that contributed across the 80km of coastline and keeping NT’s coastline clean,” said OzFish Northern Territory Project Officer Ruby Hatfield.
“Darwin Harbour is a fantastic spot for rec fishers. It’s a great place to launch boats or dangle a line from the foreshore if you’re after barramundi, Spanish mackerel and trevally.”
As we are coming into the build-up, one of the best times of year to catch barramundi, rec fishers are reminded that the legal size limit in the NT is 55cm.
OzFish is looking to ramp up its projects involving its Darwin Chapter in the NT with plans to hold a clean-up in another section of Darwin Harbour in the pipeline for October.
OzFish acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Larrakia Nation and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
