Many of us who’ve been around fishing for a while and know some of the characters and fishing tales which are out there have often exclaimed “We should write a book!”. But of course writing a book takes a surprising amount of time and dedication. For most fishermen finding time in between fishing and keeping a boat running is pretty hard, so not many books have been written.
Fortunately, Dave Dawson, in between running a commercial fishing supply business (called coincidentally, Commercial Fishing Supplies) has found the time somehow to write a magnificent book about commercial fishing in Australia.
Salt Of The Sea-Tales From Commercial Fishermen, is a compilation of personal experiences by a diverse range of fishermen all presented in a beautiful coffee table book style format and illustrated with great pictures taken by fishermen themselves. Some of the stories involve great adventure such as Zach Aitken’s experiences beginning fishing as a child with his family and ending up travelling the world commercial fishing, including down to Herd Island. There’s the personal stories of veterans of the industry such as Bruce Davis and Terry and Vicki Burnett, giving an insight into the history of our industry and amazing personal stories of achievement.
There are many humorous and fascinating anecdotes throughout the book which would have just faded into history without this book being written and Dave’s really done a service to all fishermen by writing this book. My copy is sitting on my coffee table and will be there for some time as I keep picking it up and re-reading chapters of it.
Well worth purchasing for yourself or friends, I highly recommend it.
