Pre-colonial aquaculture system a spectacular example of Indigenous innovation and social complexity
Originally published on Global Voices
Brewarrina Fish Traps October 2025 – author's photo
Australia has two of the world’s oldest aquaculture sites, where fish and eels were farmed by Indigenous people for thousands of years.
The Brewarrina fish traps are located on the Barwon River in northern New South Wales. They are also called Baiame’s Ngunnhu, Nonah, or Nyemba Fish Traps. The site was included on the Places in the National Heritage list in 2005.
It was a gathering place for eight different tribes, with up to 3,000 people living in the area before colonisation. The Ngemba people are the traditional custodians of this important site. The Ngemba believe that:
The ancestral being Baiame revealed the innovative design of the traps by throwing his net over the river. With the help of his two sons, Baiame built the fishtraps in the shape of this net.
Flinders University's Claire Smith, Gary Jackson and Jordan Ralph, included the traps in their discussion of potential Indigenous World Heritage sites at The Conversation:
Nearly half a kilometre long, the fishtraps’ design and complexity is extraordinary. Dry-stone weirs and ponds were designed to take advantage of the specific configuration of the landscape and seasonal changes in river flows. The pond gates are strategically located to trap fish as they migrate both upstream and downstream. For thousands of years, these distinctive traps have been used to catch fresh water fish.
Controversial former Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University, anthropologist Genevieve Bell, touched on the importance of Brewarrina in a 2020 seminar:
First-time visitor TikTok user JAGS.global posted this birdseye view of the traps, commenting:
@jags.globalFirst time visiting the fish traps at Brewarrina, and I am honestly blown away. It is such a stunning, deeply powerful place. It wasn't just a local fishing spot; it was a major meeting ground for so many different First Nations. The Ualarai, Morowari, Koamu, Kamilaroi, Weilwan, Baranbinja, and Kula peoples all connecting right here along the river systems. Nations from all over the region would travel down the Darling, Warrego, Culgoa, and Bogan rivers to gather, trade, and share culture at these incredible stone traps. Standing here and realising the sheer scale of the history and connection to that Country is unforgettable. Highly recommend making the trip if you ever get the chance. Respect to the Ngemba people, the mob who belong to that land. #Brewarrina #IndigenousHistory #AboriginalAustralia #FishTraps #TravelAU
It wasn't just a local fishing spot; it was a major meeting ground for so many different First Nations. The Ualarai, Morowari, Koamu, Kamilaroi, Weilwan, Baranbinja, and Kula peoples all connecting right here along the river systems.
This video from The Fishing Shed Bathurst is just one of many on YouTube:
It has been suggested that these fish traps may be the oldest human construction in the world, dating back thousands of years. There are even claims that they are 40,000 years old. Some research suggests that they may be only 1,000 years old.
However, their age has not been scientifically verified. Archaeologist Duncan Wright pointed out in 2015 that:
Even if the traps are only 1,000 years old, it doesn’t detract from their importance… They remain a remarkable example of Aboriginal innovation, an ability to understand and exploit the natural landscape and form one part of a growing body of work that challenges how hunter-gatherer Australian societies have long been perceived.
There has been much debate about Bruce Pascoe’s best-selling book, Dark Emu. He cites Brewarrina fish traps as “an example of evidence of pre-colonial agriculture and building construction by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.
This sketch was published in 1983 by Lindsay G. Thompson for the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. However, considerable damage was caused by construction works on the river both before and after the sketch was made.
Sketch of Brewarrina Fishery 1893 – Courtesy Freshwater and Marine Image Bank, University of Washington, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Anna Clark, Professor in Public History at the University of Technology Sydney, has a wide-ranging discussion of Indigenous fishing practices at The Conversation in “Friday essay: traps, rites and kurrajong twine — the incredible ingenuity of Indigenous fishing knowledge”. She points out that:
There were even more Ngunnhu once, until they were pushed aside to make way for paddle-steamers taking the wool clip down to Adelaide in the late 19th century.
According to the peak indigenous body for western New South Wales, the Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly (MPRA),
The creation of the fish traps, and the Aboriginal Lore governing their use, helped shape the spiritual, political, social, ceremonial, and trade relationships between Aboriginal groups from across the greater landscape. The fish traps were an important site of food production, work, trade and consumption.
Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum is popular with tourists. Its Facebook page records many of their visits and posts numerous videos of the traps. Its manager, Bradley Hardy, is an enthusiastic advocate for this remarkable example of Indigenous heritage: