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Fish & Other Seafood

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

Diamond Scale Mullet are also known as diamond scale mullet; diamond scaled mullet; diamond-scale mullet; diamond-scaled mullet; large scale mullet; largescale mullet; large-scaled mullet; mullet

Diamond scale mullet are one of the largest mullet and can grow up to 5.5 kg.  They grows to 55 cm in length.   They are more prolific in the northern waters of Australia.

They can be identified easily by their distinct diamond shaped scales that have a black edge.  They have a broader head and larger scales than other Australian mullet. The Diamond-scale Mullet is silvery-grey with black scale margins. It has a truncate caudal fin. Juveniles have black pectoral fins.

It occurs throughout the tropical Indo-West and Central Pacific. In Australia it is known from the central coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to northern New South Wales. They are more prolific in the northern waters of Australia.

Diamond-scale Mullet is a schooling fish and can be found in lagoons, shallow sandy areas, mangroves and rivers.

Fishing for Diamond Scale Mullet:

Mullet are not a common catch for recreational fisherman, although in brackish to freshwater mullet will accept baits of dough or earthworms, on small hooks under a float. Small "poddy" mullet are a good live bait for such fish as flathead and can be caught in a narrow bottle or similar container filled with bread.

Cooking Mullet:

Commonly 500g-1.5kg and 30-45cm, though Sea Mullet can grow to 8kg and Goldspot rarely grows larger than 30cm and 1kg.  Mullet are a low priced fish, however, Diamond Scale Mullet are generally more expensive than Sea Mullet.

To Buy
Usually sold as skinned fillets. In whole fish look for lustrous skin, firm flesh, and a pleasant, fresh sea smell. In fillets, look for pinkish-grey, 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, gilled, gutted and cleaned thoroughly (remove stomach lining and any fat along the stomach wall). Wrap whole fish, or fillets in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months below -18șC.

To Cook
No other food overcooks as easily as seafood. Overcooking seafood will spoil its flavour and texture, and decrease the moisture content of the flesh.

The lining of the abdominal cavity should be removed completely and the fat along the abdominal wall should also be scraped away. Average yield is 45%. Has a strong flavour, oily, moist, soft to medium-textured flesh with few bones, which are easily removed. Remove the skin, and fatty tissue underneath, for a milder flavour.

Cooking Methods
Bake, grill, barbecue, smoke, pickle. Works well in fish pastes and pâté.

Commercial Fishing for Mullet:

Sea mullet (Mugil cephalus) is an important species for commercial fishers in southern Queensland. The species is a major component of the ocean beach fishery, but is caught in similar numbers in bays, estuaries and near-shore coastal waters primarily south of Bundaberg.

Mullet are caught using a variety of nets and netting methods. The nets and methods used depend on the fishery. Some of the nets used include mesh nets and seine nets.

The estuarine fishery uses gill and tunnel nets to target fish for the local fresh fish market throughout the year. The ocean beach fishery uses seine and haul nets to target pre-spawning fish from April to August to supply an international export market for mullet roe.

International names for Diamond Scale Mullet:
USA - Diamondscale mullet, blackfin mullet, squaretail mullet
UK -  Diamondscale mullet, super-tail mullet
Japan - Oni-bora
South Africa - Squaretail mullet, stompstert-harde

Worldwide Trade Seafood Industry Directory of companies and contacts who are Exporters, Importers & Processors, Wholesale & Agents of Mullet:
Exporters of Mullet
Importers of Mullet
Processors of Mullet
Wholesale Suppliers of Mullet
Buyers Agents for Mullet

Trade-Seafood Directory - See Also:  Grey Mullet,  Red Mullet,  Sea Mullet,  Red Striped Mullet,  Yellow Eye Mullet

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