Hey guys, it's sad to say but the Hawkesburu is ruined. I lived on the river at Lower Portland from when I was 9 months old until I was 15 and fish that almost every day. My parent still own the property down there but over the last 15 year the river has been raped, pillaged and plundered of every thing it had to offer.
I'm 30 now but when I used to live down there their were only a handful ( maybe 5 or 6 ) prawn trawler that used fish the river. These guys were old school fisherman that respected the river and knew from generations of fishing how to keep it sustainable. The last few years that I was living on the river more and more trawler seemed to be coming onto the river. These new guys were complete wankers thinking they knew everything and were just in it for a quick easy buck. What they didn't realize is that it isn't just scooping prawns out of the river but was more complex , and more about understanding there cycles, not just the prawns but the whole Eco system. It's as simple as this, if there are no prawns/squid in the river the fish will not want to be there either. The Hawkesbury river would be one of the most thriving river on the east coast if it wasn't for the large amount of commercial fishing!
I extend my middle finger to them all!