Local Community and Economy
The strait between Maria Island and the east coast of mainland Tasmania is called Mercury Passage and was named after the ship HMS Mercury, commanded by John Henry Cox, who charted the area in 1789. There are two towns of size in this part of the East Coast: Orford at the mouth of the Prosser River and Triabunna, some eight kilometres further north at the head of Spring Bay.
There is one town on Maria Island, called Darlington. It lies near the northern tip of the island. Darlington is beautiful and historic and has many wonderful old buildings, but it has no permanent inhabitants other than a few park rangers. All the rest—up to several hundred during the summer holidays—are tourists who come and go.
Tourism is important to the local economy. In nearby Triabunna other major industries are fishing, forestry and farming. An export woodchip mill is located at Freestone Point 5 km south of the town. Rock lobster (known locally as crayfish), scalefish, scallops and abalone are taken near the island by both commercial and recreational fishermen, and mussels are farmed in Mercury Passage.
Read more about this topic: Maria Island
Famous quotes containing the words local, community and/or economy:
“Back now to autumn, leaving the ended husk
Of summer that brought them here for Show Saturday
The men with hunters, dog-breeding wool-defined women,
Children all saddle-swank, mugfaced middleaged wives
Glaring at jellies, husbands on leave from the garden
Watchful as weasels, car-tuning curt-haired sons
Back now, all of them, to their local lives....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“The heroes of the world community are not those who withdraw when difficulties ensue, not those who can envision neither the prospect of success nor the consequence of failure—but those who stand the heat of battle, the fight for world peace through the United Nations.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)
“Everyone is always in favour of general economy and particular expenditure.”
—Anthony, Sir Eden (1897–1977)