Jack Bellamy poles his last fish at 88
Poling tuna in heavy seas with a full load
Jack Bellamy says he's poled his last southern bluefin tuna.
The 88-year-old is a pioneer of the commercial tuna fishing industry in South Australia and is the last of his era to land a tuna by pole.
Mr Bellamy came to South Australia with his twin, Keith, 70 years ago from Port Fairy in Victoria, aboard the purpose-built purse seine net boat, Motor Fishing Vessel (MFV) TACOMA. The Haldane family built the wooden boat over seven years. When it was ready to launch, the neighbouring Bellamy twins, who'd grown up watching it take shape outside their kitchen window, joined the crew.
They turned 18 on the way to Port Lincoln. Mr Bellamy said catching his first tuna felt like catching a whale compared to the whiting he normally caught, and he was hooked. He has memories of large catches off Port Lincoln.
"Good fishing, 40 tonnes in four-and-a-half hours, that's the best we ever had, we had our good trips and our rough trips too."
Pole fishing might have been full of adventure, but it was also a dangerous industry. A memorial for those lost at sea lists more than 50 fishers who never returned to shore, including whole boats. Among the names is Mr Bellamy's brother, Keith.
Jack Bellamy's twin, Keith, (right) was lost at sea in 1959 at just 25.(Supplied)
Aged 25, he was lost at sea at Rocky Island in 1959 when he was pulled off the back of the boat by a large tuna while poling.
"To lose a twin brother and everything, it wasn't very nice, but that's a part of life, and you've got to put it behind you and just keep on with it, keep going."
It is the same spot where Mr Bellamy caught his last fish this month.
Preserving MFV Tacoma
In the late 1960s, the TACOMA converted to a prawn vessel to fish in the Spencer Gulf. When it retired from the prawn fishery the Haldane family gifted it to the people of Australia and a group of volunteers set about restoring it to a 1950s tuna poling boat. Mr Bellamy was one of the volunteers.
He has also been the cook aboard the TACOMA, utilising a coke-fired AGA stove for annual tourist fishing trips. It's a new one because the original was tossed over the side of the boat in the Spencer Gulf on a prawn trip one night.
"I lived 15 years on the boat before I was married, and that was my home for 15 years," Mr Bellamy said. “That stove went for 24 hours — it kept the boat lovely and warm."
Jack Bellamy has retired from the historic MFV TACOMA .(ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)
Skipper Ross Haldane said the annual trips provided an authentic experience aboard a working original tuna pole boat, and Mr Bellamy was an integral part of it.
"Jack was the first to pole tuna commercially, and here we are 64 years later, and he's still able to pole at age 88," Mr Haldane said.
"It's a bit like a shearer being able to shear at 88."
Mr Haldane said Mr Bellamy was the cook for the trips, and he was known for his lamb roast and simple, wholesome food in the 1950s style.
"Jack doesn't get seasick," Mr Haldane said. And his ability to manoeuvre around the boat — to watch him is like watching a dancer."
Mr Bellamy helped catch 63 tuna on the annual women's tuna trip in early February.
"We let the ladies fish first, and I said to Greg [fellow tuna poler], 'C'mon, this is my last poling trip, get in the rack with me'," Mr Bellamy said.
"He hopped in the rack [metal cage platform] with me and said, 'Bloody hell, I can see why you're a bloody good tuna fisherman, Jack'."
The pair caught about 10 fish before the skipper, Ross Haldane, called to finish fishing for the day, but Mr Bellamy lingered for one last catch.
"We were on the rack there, and the fish are just biting, and Ross says, 'That's enough,'" Mr Bellamy said.
"I said come on, Greg, let's get another two or three before we get out of the rack."
It's because of this love of the catch that the skipper is not fully convinced Jack has caught his last fish.
"Whenever he catches a fish, he gives me a wry smile and says, 'It might be my last fish'," Mr Haldane said. "So we'll see if it is."