Background
In 2006 when a small team conceived the Cairns Marlin History Project, little did they realize the scale of the project and history they would ‘unearth’. Retracing the history of game fishing on the Great Barrier Reef from the early 1930’s, and the evolution of game fishing in Cairns from the mid 1960’s to the present day has uncovered a wealth of stories, characters and memorabilia.
To date the project has uncovered information on 243 boats, 400+ crew, 700+ anglers, 1708 weighed fish including 694 1000lb+, an archive of 200+ hours of video, 8000+ images and 4000 - 5000 articles or historical documents on the Cairns Marlin Fishery and game fishing in Australia.
The continually evolving Cairns Marlin History Project archive, to be renamed the Cairns Marlin Collection will now form the platform for the launch of The Sportfishing Museum (TSFM); a history unit of the Pacific Marinelife Institute.
The Museum
The Sportfishing Museum will be principally a digital museum exhibited online and through touring pop-up multimedia exhibits aboard host boats at key events. The Museum’s Archive will preserve the achievements, stories, memories and memorabilia of the people, places, boats, events and organisations that are part of our recreational fishing history. While regularly evolving exhibitions and collections will trace our history of the past and future, a digital classroom will interact with school children.
Museum Collections
The Museum will be responsible for regional, brand and personal multimedia Collections. The collections include - Cairns Marlin, Fishing Moreton Bay, Fishing Fiji, Vava’u Game Fishing and Game Fishing in Queensland.
Special and Permanent Digital Exhibits
With a focus in 2014 on Cairns Marlin history, the Museum will launch exhibits for the Memories of 60 (60 key people involved in the Cairns marlin fishery), Cairns Marlin The Early Years - to 1979, Women Who Chased Giants, Cairns Marlin The Boats, and the Cairns Marlin Wall (an honour wall for anglers and crew who have been part of the Cairns marlin fishery). These exhibits will be available online and through the touring Fishing Museum Lounge.
Online and Museum Facilities
A new website to be launched in 2014 and expanding social media channels will allow the international fishing community to view parts of the Collections, explore the exhibits and actively preserve their history.
To expand the Museum’s object care and preservation capabilities, a small permanent climate controlled Archive Facility is planned to be located on Australia’s Gold Coast for photos, personal documents and memorabilia.
For more information
Contact David Joyce +61 (0)412 761 016
Email: marlinhistory@pacificmarinelife.com
Email: marlinhistory@pacificmarinelife.com
