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Fish & Other Seafood

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

Also known as Sea Bass, Barra, giant perch, giant sea perch, silver barramundi

Barramundi are harvested as part of the set gill net fishery on the eastern coast of Queensland and in the Gulf of Carpentaria.  They are also farmed.

Available both wild-caught and farmed, it is caught using gillnets in coastal and fresh waters in Australia’s tropical north, from the Ashburton River in WA to the Noosa River in Queensland. They live in rivers and creeks, but do move into estuaries and coastal shallows to breed. Darwin, Weipa, Cairns, Innisfail, Townsville, Bundaberg and Adelaide are all important Barramundi farming centres.

The name Barramundi came from an Aboriginal word that means ‘large scaled river fish’

Queensland barramundi have a single annual summer spawning period, with the timing and duration varying between regions, river systems and from year to year depending on water temperature and salinity.

Generally fish spawn around river mouths so that larval and juvenile barramundi can use swamps that form during the monsoon season.  Annual wet season rainfall influences adult spawning success and juvenile recruitment.

Juvenile barramundi are highly dependent on estuarine and freshwater habitats.   They move from the estuarine areas up into the freshwater habitats to grow for one to two years.  During the dry season, Barramundi may become land-locked in up river waterholes and lagoons of river systems.  They move back to tidal areas when rains open these rivers.

Did you know? Females produce a lot of eggs - about 300,000 per kg of body weight. The eggs hatch within 20 hours and grow quickly.

Did you know? Barramundi are born as males and at about 6 years of age, Barramundi have reached over 80cm and are now female for breeding..

Barramundi eat a range of food including fishes, shrimp, crayfish, crab and aquatic insects and they are mainly but not exclusively nocturnal feeders.

Barramundi are a very important commercial species.  They are excellent eating.

Fishing for Barramundi:

Barramundi are a premier game and sport fish, and they are prolific all across the Northern Territory and Kimberley coast. Their full range extends from Shark Bay in Western Australia across the top and down to the Mary and Maroochy river systems in Queensland.

Dawn and dusk is the preferred time and the summer months (November to March) during calm humid conditions the best. Deep diving lures cast around structure, weed beds, drowned timber etc. is the way, although trolling can also produce the goods.

Fishing methods include trolling, lure casting out soft plastics, hard body baits like crank baits, and surface lures. Barramundi fishing can be undertaken by casting lures to “structure” such as submerged logs, rock bars and overhanging banks. Barramundi are basically lazy fish and mostly will not put in too much effort to catch a feed so casting needs to be tight. Barramundi can also be caught by fly fishing and by trolling and they can be tough on gear so make sure you have the best. 

A favourite haunt for barramundi is amongst mangroves and around submerged logs and other overhangs where it waits to ambush it’s pray. Barramundi prefer larger waters with a slow continuous flow and water temperatures above 20 C.

The Barra will hit the lure or fly hard and run for the snags and the fisherman is usually the loser if the fish gets there.

Barramundi Closed Season - Queensland:

Cooking Barramundi:

Buying Barramundi
Wild-caught Barramundis are usually sold in fillets or cutlets. In fillets and cutlets, look for lustrous, firm, moist white-pinkish flesh without any brown markings or oozing water and with a pleasant fresh smell. Farmed baby Barramundis are mostly sold whole, look for firm flesh, which springs back when touched and a pleasant fresh smell.

To Store
Make sure whole fish is scaled, gutted and cleaned thoroughly. Wrap whole fish, fillets and cutlets in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Refrigerate for 2-3 days or freeze whole fish for up to 6 months, and fillets or cutlets for up to 3 months, below -18ºC.

To Cook
Yield is 45-50%. Barramundi flesh has large flakes, mild flavour, low-medium oiliness depending on the season, moist flesh and medium to firm texture depending on size. Wild-caught Barramundi has only a few large bones, which can easily be removed. Cut large fillets into serving size portions. The centre bone of cutlets can be removed and a filling placed in the cavity. Baby Barramundis are best served whole (scaled, gutted and cleaned) as they are an ideal plate-sized fish. Barramundi skin is fine and can be left on during cooking.

Commercial Fishing for Barramundi: 

Season
Wild-caught Barramundis are available from February to October, with the main season being February to April.

Size and Weight
Barramundis mature as males after 3 years, measuring up to 60cm in length, then change into females after 5 years. They can reach up to 1.5m and 50kg, although most wild-caught fish weigh less than 6kg. Farmed Barramundis average 400-600g and 30-37cm and are commonly sold as ‘baby’, or ‘plate-sized’, Barramundi. Some Barramundi farmers are now producing larger fish weighing around 3kg, these are flakier and have firmer flesh than ‘baby’ Barramundi.
 

More Information on Barramundi

Worldwide Trade Seafood Industry Directory of companies and contacts who are Exporters, Importers & Processors, Wholesale & Agents of Barramundi and Sea Bass:

Aquaculture Producers of Barramundi  | Processors of Barramundi  |  Exporters of Barramundi  |  Importers of Barramundi  |
Wholesale Suppliers of Barramundi  |  Seafood Agents for Barramundi

and

Aquaculture Producers of Sea Bass  |  Exporters of Sea Bass  |  Importers of Sea Bass  |  Processors of Sea Bass  |  Wholesale Suppliers of Sea Bass  |  Seafood Agents for Sea Bass

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