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Fish, Crustaceans & Cephalopods

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

Bream also known as silver bream (NSW, Qld, Vic.); sea bream (NSW, Qld); black bream, surf bream (NSW)

Bream are mostly found in estuaries, but are also found on inshore reefs and coastal waters adjacent to beaches and rocky headlands. They live in rivers upstream to the limit of brackish water, but rarely enter freshwater. Frequently swim in schools.

Bream have a varied diet which includes small crabs, prawns, molluscs such as oysters and pipis and small fish and sometimes green weed.

All three bream species under discussion here are deep-bodied, laterally-compressed fish with moderately large scales, a forked tail and a smallish mouth lined with strong, peg-like teeth. The colouration of each species varies considerably, depending upon it's habitat. Bream living in upper tidal estuaries or land-locked lagoons are often very dark - almost black - on the back and bronze or gold on the flanks. At the opposite extreme, bream taken from the surf, ocean rocks or lower estuaries are usually bright silver. The eastern black bream's pelvic and anal fins are often yellowish to bright yellow. This bream's tail is typically dusky-yellow with a black trailing edge. There is usually a small black blotch at the base of each pectoral fin, and this may also be evident on southern bream at times. In contrast, the pikey bream is generally much darker in hue than either the eastern black or southern variety, and its lips may also be thick and rubbery at times.

The commercial fishery for bream extends from Bundaberg in QLD to Bermagui on the south coast of NSW. Methods of capture include gillnets, haul seines and beach seine nets. Bream is also a by-catch of inshore trawling and trapping. The main fishing methods for commercial fishing in VIC and SA are gillnets and haul seines, and in WA almost all of the commercial catch is taken with gillnets.

Minimum legal size limits apply in all States.

Other Bream Links:

Snapper Recipes - from How To Cook Fish

Angling for Bream:

Fishing Techniques: The most productive techniques for taking bream in estuaries, bays and harbours are based around the use of light, sensitive tackle and live or fresh baits of marine worms, shellfish, yabbies (nippers), crabs, prawns or small bait fish species. Bream also succumb to an array of less conventional offerings such as bullock's heart, tripe, steak, chicken intestines and various 'pudding' mixtures of flour, water, cheese, tinned sardines and the like. Estuary and river-dwelling bream of all three species are also taken with reasonable consistency on small lures and flies, often by anglers targeting other species such as flathead or tailor. In New South Wales and southern Queensland, surf, rock and inshore boat anglers target eastern black bream using the same range of baits as estuary anglers, as well as whole and cut pilchards, fish fillets, strips and cubes. All three species also respond well to the use of berley.

Bream are one of the most popular species for recreational fisherman. Recreational captures of bream in southern Queensland exceeds the commercial catch. Bream are mainly caught using rod & reel and handline techniques. Bait for bream can include live yabbies, beachworms, crabs and fresh bait of prawns, pipis, fish flesh or whole small fish.

Bream and Tarwhine travel in schools, so if you come across fish that are not biting or you can see they are only small, move on to another location to find a school that is bigger in size, bream can be found in reef areas, oyster leases in rivers, around piers and their pylons and in weeds beds. For the best baits prawns, sandworms, crabs and marine worms are all very good, use a Long Shank from size 4 to 2 with bait holders 1-4, before setting the hook allow the fish to take the bait, best time to fish is dawn to dusk going into high tide, these guys will response to small minnow lures and some soft plastics

Cooking Bream:

Bream is a delicious fish, usually cooked whole. Bream are a much prized and highly rated food fish, although some people would argue they are somewhat over-rated in this department. Bream from lower estuaries, harbours and the open ocean have moist, while flesh with a clean, sweet flavour. Upper estuary or freshwater dwelling fish often exhibit slightly softer flesh, and can have a slightly weedy or muddy taint at times.

To Buy
Sold mainly whole (gilled and gutted) and occasionally in fillet form (usually skinned). In whole fish look for lustrous skin, firm flesh, and a pleasant, fresh sea smell. In fillets, look for white, firm, lustrous, moist flesh without any brown markings or oozing water and with a pleasant fresh sea smell.

To Store
Make sure whole fish is scaled, gutted and cleaned thoroughly as soon as possible (completely remove the lining of the abdominal cavity and the white fat along the abdominal wall). Wrap whole fish and fillets in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze whole fish for up to 6 months, and fillets for up to 3 months, below -18ēC.

To Cook
Average yield is 35%. Has a mild, sweet flavour, low oiliness and moist, soft-medium flesh. Estuarine and river fish can have a slightly coarse, muddy or weedy flavour.

Cooking Methods
Steam, poach, pan-fry, bake, grill, barbecue. A good plate-sized fish cooked whole, flesh also works well in mousseline.

Microwave Cooking Times for Fish
- Fish fillets – 5 minutes per 500g on medium-high, +50 seconds more for thicker fillets, or until flesh flakes
- Whole fish - Large – 6 minutes/750g on medium
- Whole fish – Small – 3-4 minutes on medium

Commercial Fishing for Bream:

Available mainly wild-caught, though Yellowfin and Black Bream are also farmed. They are found mainly in estuaries, though also along the coast and around rocky reefs, lighter coloured fish are caught at sea, while darker ones are from estuaries and further up river. Black Bream are found around southern Australia, while Frypan and Pikey Bream are found in northern waters. Yellowfin and Tarwhine are found along the eastern coast up to far north Queensland, and Tarwhine is also found along the southern to central coast of WA. Black and Yellowfin Bream are endemic to Australia.

Season
Available year round with Black Bream peaking in WA in August and September and some available from SA in the second half of the year, and Yellowfin peaking in NSW from February to June and Queensland from May to July.

Size and Weight
Varies with species, typically from a minimum of 200g (Tarwhine and Yellowfin) to a maximum of 1.5kg (Black and Frypan) and 25-45cm in length, though they can grow to at least 4kg and about 60cm.

Yellowfin Bream

Exporters of Silver Bream  |  Importers of Silver Bream  |  Processors of Silver Bream  | Wholesale Suppliers of Silver Bream  |  Agents for Silver Bream

More links about Bream: