Download Newcastle Herald 6 - Dora Creek Public School

Dora Creek Public School
Newcastle Herald
Story 6 (150 words)
A great sight for our eyes!
by Logan Whitten, Max Ferguson and Ethan White
The health of Lake Macquarie immediately improved after heavy industries in northern Lake Macquarie
closed and a ban on commercial fishing was put in place. Photographs of commercial fishing in Dora Creek
and surrounding areas are quite famous and show many families earning a living from the well stocked local
waterways as far back as 1910. However as fish populations plummeted, restrictions and eventual bans to
commercial fishing became necessary.
The lake is now rapidly recovering and seemingly in good health, however the media is playing its part
whipping up hysteria about shark sightings in the lake. In October 2012 the Newcastle Herald ran a story
about a bull shark being caught at Dora Creek and in November the same year, the possibility of a great
white shark lurking in our waters was discussed in an inflammatory story, also in the Herald.
Fisherman may want a return to commercial fishing to help eradicate a potential shark problem, but surely
the great sight of a great white proves the lake has been transformed and that some of the ocean’s ancient
creatures are coming back to the Lake Macquarie, which was desolate of sea life just a decade ago.
Photograph by Max Ferguson
Caption: The health of Dora Creek is attracting some big fish