Analysis of Coastal Middens in South-Eastern Australia: selectivity of angling and other fishing techniques related to Holocene deposits

Several findings relating technology to size and species of fishes captured by coastal communities to south-eastern Australia, during the period 7000-270 BP, are questioned by recent studies. Angling, spearing, trapping and netting techniques are discussed with respect to selectivity, harvesting pressure and differential habitat exploitation. The possibility of a relationship between narrowest mouth aperture in snapper (Pagrus auratus) and minimal hook measurements is investigated. Comparisons, based on current fishing practice, indicate that recommended hook width is almost always smaller than minimum mouth width (posterior inter-dentary distance, PIDD)-usually much smaller; however, predicting the sizes of snapper that can be captured by a particular hook is not possible, using the parameters analysed to date.