Built in 1972, Volition had been owned by two of Bermagui’s most well-known fishing families – Jubb and Puglisi. Photo: Bermagui Historical Society.
When the fishing vessel Volition broke up on the night of 27 February after running aground very early that day, Bermagui lost a piece of its history.
As the closest port on the mainland to the continental shelf, fishing was central to Bermagui’s development and economy during the 20th century.
Rocky Lagana, CEO of the Bermagui Fishermen’s Co-operative, said the boat had been working in the tuna longline industry from Bermagui for the past 20 years.
For a while Volition was owned by two of Bermagui’s most prominent fishing families – Jubb and Puglisi.
According to the Bermagui Historical Society, Volition was built in Adelaide in 1972 by Tony Franov. The first owner, Mario Basile of Ulladulla, named it Angelica.
Third-generation Bermagui commercial fisher Michael Jubb knows a fair bit about Volition’s history.
“When Basile sold her, he wanted to keep the name so the new owners in Eden called her Lochiel,” Michael said. “She was a deep-sea trawler.”
Lochiel stayed in Eden when it was sold to John Bell, who turned it into a longliner. His son was the next owner.
Volition (second from right) was originally called Angelica. Photo: Bermagui Historical Society.
It was when the Jubb family bought Lochiel that it came to Bermagui.
Michael’s grandfather, Harry, was one of the best-known names in the industry.
Born in 1888, he towed a punt from Bermagui to Tathra in 1920 on a boat owned by Bermagui identity Sam Sinclair.
In the early 1940s Harry ran vessels from Bermagui to Montague Island, servicing the lighthouse staff with supplies and mail.
Harry was one of the earliest members of the Bermagui Fishermen’s Co-Operative in the late 1940s.
In 1953 Harry’s son John, who was born in 1934, joined him as a fisherman.
Within 25 years John had one of the most powerful fishing boats in the area. He also held several big game fishing records.
In 1985 he bought Kendon-B, which was built in 1965, and formed a family company, Jubb Proprietary Limited. Each of his five sons, whose roles included telecommunications mechanic and shipwright, became fishermen.
When the boat changed hands and moved to Eden, its name was changed from Angelica to Lochiel. Shown next to Kendon-B, which was also owned by the Jubb family. Photo: Bermagui Historical Society.
In 1988 Prime Minister Bob Hawke awarded John a medallion for his contribution to NSW’s fishing industry.
When the Jubb family bought Lochiel they did a refit to do commercial fishing but retained it as a tuna longliner.
“That was when it came to Bermagui, and it fished out of Bermagui for 10 years,” Michael said. “We spent a lot of time and money on that boat.”
They sold Lochiel when the family left the industry.
For a time, it fished out of Wollongong.
Lochiel returned to Bermagui in 2010 when it was bought by Camillo (Poppy) Puglisi who renamed it Volition.
Camillo migrated to Australia in 1950. He, his father and grandfather were fishermen in the Aeolian Islands off the coast of Sicily.
Camillo had three sons, one of whom was Frank, who left school at the age of 14 to go trawling with Camillo.
The statue of Camillo (Poppy) Puglisi in recognition of the Puglisi family’s service to the fishing industry and commitment to the Bermagui Fishermen’s Co-operative since 1960. Photo: Marion Williams.
The family moved from Ulladulla to Bermagui in the mid-1980s. The family partnership C Puglisi and Sons eventually had five boats.
Mr Lagana said Frank pioneered the tuna industry and was a mentor and tutor to many kids in Bermagui who went on to be skippers and own boats.
Frank passed away in 2018. Like Frank, his son Camillo left school at the age of 14 to become a fisherman.
Camillo sold Volition to its final owner some 12 months before it ran aground.
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Volition changed hands many times in its 52-year-life.
“It was such a good boat, that is the thing,” Michael said. He now repairs boats and Volition had been on the slipway getting maintenance done two weeks before the accident.
It has been a tough time for him as another of the family’s former timber boats, Kendon-B, was broken up in Port Stephens in mid-February.
“She was named after Ken and Don Burton who had it built in Sydney,” Michael said. “It would have fished out of Bermagui for 20 years easily, I reckon.”
He said Volition would have been one of the last timber boats in the area.
Mr Lagana said the last timber boats were built maybe 40 years ago. They became too expensive to build.
“That is pretty much the last of the timber boats on the east coast for tuna fishing,” Mr Lagano said. “Volition was the last timber longliner on the South Coast.”
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