Tasmanian aborigines and muttonbirding : an historical examination ...

• Main Author: Skira, Irynej Joseph
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
• Subjects: Mutton; Puffinus tenuirostris
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23243582.v1; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Tasmanian_aborigines_and_muttonbirding_an_historical_examination/23243582/1

The Tasmanian muttonbird, scientifically called the short-tailed shearwater Puffinus tenuirostris probably obtained its name because its flesh tasted like mutton. Over 80 percent of the world's population of 23 million birds breed in Tasmania, with the largest ' rookeries on the islands of Bass Strait. The bird has an egg-laying season of remarkable constancy enabling commercial exploitation to be carried out to a strict calendar. The term \muttonbirding\" defines the capture of the bird its killing and its processing into a product fit for human consumption. The remains of muttonbirds have been found in archaeological sites in Tasmania and mainland Australia but the meagre number present suggests that the birds were not an important food source to the Aborigines. In 1798 the seal colonies of Bass Strait were discovered and exploited by nonAboriginal sealers to near extinction. The sealers who remained took Aboriginal women for \"wives\". The population grew slowly based on a subsistence muttonbird economy. ...