Swainston makes a splash

by Tam Kennedy

March 31, 2008

FREO-based zoologist and marine artist Roger Swainston is quietly transforming the way fish are being portrayed by the WA government.

Department of Fisheries spokesman Stephen Emmery says they’ve has reeled in Swainston to re-do the previous black and white drawings in their educational publications.

“In the past we’ve used black and white line drawings of fish for our signs and brochures,” Mr Emmery says. “In the years after that we’ve been finding fish illustrations more useful and informative.

“The brochures we use aim at raising awareness of a certain species.”

Swainston says he’ll be trying to draw out the beauty of WA’s marine life.

“With black and white line drawings you are able to identify what you’ve caught,” he says, “but if you can really see the beauty of the animal, then that is when you start to respect it as well”.

The department faces new challenges in raising public awareness, as the pressure on WA’s coastline, rivers and fish habitats swell due to population growth and increasing demand for natural resources.

Swainston works closely with conservation organisations to help protect fisheries and increase the public’s knowledge of marine life. His work focuses on integrating science and art.

 “My role as an artist is to capture the beauty of these creatures,” he says. “If people can start to see that they are truly beautiful animals then it helps raise awareness and eventually helps protect them.”

The Department’s fishing restrictions are split into four regions; Kimberley, Gascoyne, the West Coast and the South Coast. Each region has its own species brochures.

In early March the Kimberley celebrated its first ‘Sea Week’ that promoted various environmental matters.

“One of the things of the week was promoting the ‘saw fish’ which is different to the ‘sword fish’,” Mr Emmery says. “Roger’s drawings of this fish will go in the Kimberley guide and along with these kinds of events we hope to raise community awareness about what fish species are what.”

Swainston’s love of Australian nature stems from running around the Australian outback as a child. He graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Zoology degree in 1981 and has since participated in numerous scientific projects around the world, including an ongoing project on the Ningaloo Reef.