Namarnkol (barramundi) bark painting by Alison Guwanguwan

“Namarnkol, the Barramundi, is a very important fish for us Bininj (Aboriginal people). Barramundi are found in the ocean, floodwaters, freshwater billabongs, rivers, and creeks. In the old days, people used to spear them with djalakirradj (three-pronged fish spears) and walabi (traditional triangular nets). Nowadays, we catch them with fishing lines and modern nets.”

Barramundi are most easily caught from the end of the monsoon (March -April) until the humid “build up” season (October-November). There are Barramundi Dreaming sites in many clan countries, where the ancestral Barramundi placed itself as a Dreaming. Men and women will say “My Dreaming is Barramundi, it placed itself in my country.”