Catalyst Media

Investigating environment, science & our sustainable future

Spark - Shoalhaven

FREE, local, independentnews and views - direct from community

Subscribe FREE

Latest Stories

April 27, 2025

Persistence, not resistance, is The Greens' real power.

“Political leaders who insist that mining and forestry underwrite Australian prosperity...cannot be trusted with the wellbeing of future generations.”

Time hasn't broken the Green's Cassandra Curse, something party pioneer, Bob Brown, acknowledged as its fate. In Greek mythology, Cassandra's jilted suitor, Apollo, gifted her the power to accurately predict the future, then doomed her to always be disbelieved.

March 29, 2025

Fisheries Flex to Bulk Up Mussel Farm.

"They are risking the Golden Goose that lays the eggs. These mussel farms are a crazy ideological push from Fisheries because they don't care about Marine Parks.”

Serious questions surround approval to increase commercial mussel farming in Jervis Bay Marine Park, despite dramatic footage from local divers of unusual mussel blooms dominating locations throughout the bay.

March 23, 2025

Carving Deadwood, Creating Wildlife.

"There's so much fearmongering. Trees are hotels for animals and they need to be thought of a bit differently - there's a lot more value to old trees than what people are putting onto them."

New and valuable real estate is being carved into our urban landscapes by the very experts trained to cut away the dead wood. Conservation Arborists are turning their chainsaws and their passion for wildlife to creating tree canopies of the future.

Interviews

March 26, 2025

Rod Sleath:
"We are seeing these mussel blooms where divers have never seen mussels before."

The alarming boom of invasive mussels in Jervis Bay Marine Park has disturbed divers and boaters, like underwater photographer Rod Sleath, since late 2023. But widespread community opposition and scientific warnings haven’t stopped the expansion of the Jervis Bay Mussels'.

April 15, 2025

Sue Newson
"There are huge clumps of mussels now covering the bottom that is supposed to be just sand."

Sue Newson of Crest Divers shares her immense experience diving below Jervis Bay’s surface and questions whether the abundance of sharks, seahorses, and shells at the Jervis Bay Mussel farm is actually a danger sign of ecological imbalance.

April 15, 2025

Prof. David Booth:
"If anyone were to tell me this is natural, I'd say that's ridiculous."

Amid community fears for the future of Jervis Bay Marine Park, Professor David Booth, a marine ecologist at the University of Technology, considers the risks of farming blue mussels, one of the world's most invasive species, in a marine park.

April 15, 2025

Sam Gordon:

"Mussels are one of the most sustainable and cost effective forms of food production in the world."

Amid fears over mysterious mussel blooms appearing around Jervis Bay Marine Park, Sam Gordon of Blue Harvest defends his mussel farms and explains why he believes mussel aquaculture is the future of sustainable seafood.

As a journalist and photographer, I'm curious about (almost) everything and relish finding stories - it's like making new friends.

I've broad experience as a reporter in country and metropolitan newspapers, and as editor of mainstream and special interest publications, Australian Camera and Australasian SCUBA Diver

My feature articles and photographs have appeared under a wide variety of mastheads, including Good Weekend, National Geographic, Cosmopolitan, Islands, Simply Living, Choice and GEO.

Everyone has a story.

Send me your tips, leads suggestions, questions and feedback.

hi@catholloway.com

Follow me on

Catalyst Media

Investigating environment, science & our sustainable future

Spark - Shoalhaven

FREE, local, independentnews and views - direct from community

Latest Stories

Persistence, not resistance, is The Greens' real power.

“Political leaders who insist that mining and forestry underwrite Australian prosperity...cannot be trusted with the wellbeing of future generations.”

Fisheries Flex to Bulk Up Mussel Farm.

"They are risking the Golden Goose that lays the eggs. These mussel farms are a crazy ideological push from Fisheries because they don't care about Marine Parks.”

Carving Deadwood, Creating Wildlife.

"There's so much fearmongering. Trees are hotels for animals and they need to be thought of a bit differently - there's a lot more value to old trees than what people are putting onto them."

Interviews

Rod Sleath: "We are seeing these mussel blooms where divers have never seen mussels before."

Sue Newson "There are huge clumps of mussels now covering the bottom that is supposed to be just sand."

Prof. David Booth:"If anyone were to tell me this is natural, I'd say that's ridiculous."

Sam Gordon:

"Mussels are one of the most sustainable and cost effective forms of food production in the world."

As a journalist and photographer, I'm curious about (almost) everything and relish finding stories - it's like making new friends.

I've broad experience as a reporter in country and metropolitan newspapers, and as editor of mainstream and special interest publications, Australian Camera and Australasian SCUBA Diver

My feature articles and photographs have appeared under a wide variety of mastheads, including Good Weekend, National Geographic, Cosmopolitan, Islands, Simply Living, Choice and GEO.

Everyone has a story.

Send me your tips, leads suggestions, questions and feedback.

Rod Sleath:
"We are seeing these mussel blooms where divers have never seen mussels before."

Sue Newson
"There are huge clumps of mussels now covering the bottom that is supposed to be just sand."

Prof. David Booth:
"If anyone were to tell me this is natural, I'd say that's ridiculous."