Working with two Matts
MATT Hansen denies he named his pet Murray Cod after himself, explaining that Brag-“mat” is referring to the mat anglers lay their catches on to measure them, and that the fish’s name contains only one ‘t’.
“He came from the first ever bag of fingerlings we put in the Macquarie River when we started to re-stock fish. That’s 11 years ago now. He’s actually a year older than our firstborn son Jack,” Mr Hansen told Dubbo Photo News.
“We started with a really basic philosophy. We thought the way to fix the river was just to tip bags of fish into it and we gradually developed our understanding from there that you need to rebuild the river so it’s not only about tipping fingerlings in, it’s rebuilding the habitat so fish can breed on their own and introduce babies to the system naturally.”
Brag-mat, as well as being a pet that’s provided plenty of joy for the Hansen family and is a talking point for customers to the family’s real estate business, is also a source of inspiration as it’s a living historical time-stamp from when Inland Waterways-ozfish began its community work
“He is a symbol I suppose for all the hard work that’s been done. He’s also the symbol of a journey where we as an organisation started work on our rivers simply by introducing fingerlings and then moving on to re-snagging and re-planting trees in the riparian zone which is building a home,” Mr Hansen said.
“Holistically, for fish, if you don’t have the in-stream environment right then there’s no point even putting fingerlings in so he’s that symbol not just of all that hard work, but also of growing our understanding of what true river health is.”
Mr Hansen said seeing his cod every day when he comes into work is therapeutic not just because Brag-mat is a great pet, but because he’s a reminder of all Inland Waterways-ozfish has achieved.
“He’s a part of the family. He recognises our kids and if Jack or Cooper walk into the room, he’ll chase Cooper up and down as he walks on the outside of the tank and he certainly knows when it’s feeding time. He’s a special fish with a story behind him. He was with us when we started our work for a better Macquarie River.
“He makes me feel good. He makes me think about the river and how far we’ve come in the past 10 years and about all the projects we’ve done, not just with cod.”
Mr Hansen said he’s all for people utilising animals to enhance the amenity of their work environments.