STINKER: The changing face of the Tweed River

IT has been an interesting couple of weeks for me holidaying in the old family home on the Terranora Lakes, just west of Tweed Heads.

Coming from a fishing family, most of my early days were spent on the beaches or in a boat floating up and down the Tweed River.

To say “things have changed” would be an understatement as the population has exploded and the pressure on the resources has increased proportionally.

Little towns including Kingscliff, Fingal Head, Cabarita and Pottsville have become bustling communities. Towns, Salt and Casuarina, have emerged from the sandy coastline in recent years.

It is the fishing that most interests me.

Compared to Port Stephens, the Tweed River is a small waterway, yet the number of boats launched each weekend would compare.

Most concerning to me are two problems that are not unique to the Tweed. They are problems shared in Port Stephens and other coastal estuary systems.

One is the loss of sea grass. The grass, vital to estuarine health, has simply disappeared in huge areas through the shallow water in the lake system.

It is time for the scientists, employed by NSW Fisheries, to conduct research to determine why the grass has gone. Disappointingly, big snub nose garfish were regulars in Terranora Lake, every summer, grazing on the sea grasses. Now the garfish have gone along with the grass.

What has flourished has been the salt water yabby population.

Called nippers in other estuaries, the yabby numbers have never been so healthy.

The second problem being experienced in the Tweed is the inundation of sand.

Every year I visit the lakes it is increasingly noticeable that the water is shallower and sand banks are higher.

Still, fish can be caught, if you know where to look.

Flathead, thumper whiting, occasional mulloway, mangrove jack in summer and bream.

As much as I do enjoy the Tweed I’m looking forward to chasing snapper on my return to Fingal Bay.

By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE