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Fish & Other Seafood

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

Sand Whiting are also known as Silver whiting, summer whiting. They belong to the Family Sillaginidae (whitings).

Sand Whiting live in inshore waters, coastal beaches, bays coastal lakes and are often found in rivers and estuaries as far as the tidal limits. They swim in large schools.

Whitings diet consists of worms, small crustaceans and small fish

Whiting are a popular recreational fish, caught on Rod-and-Reel and Handlines from beach or boat using live bait of worms, soldier crabs and yabbies. Have good fighting abilities and are a good table fish. Colour ranges from olive to sandy brown above and white below. Minimum legal sizes apply.

Available wild-caught, it is a marine and estuarine fish which schools over sandy bottoms of open bays or estuaries (travelling as far up river as the tidal limit) and near ocean beaches along the length of the eastern coast, mainly at 10-30m. It’s caught mostly off southern Queensland and NSW using beach seines, in estuaries using haul nets and gillnets, and sometimes as bycatch of inshore prawn and fish trawling. It looks similar to Yellowfin Whiting as both have bright yellow lower fins.

Fishing for Whiting:
Whiting are generally caught using rod-and-line and handlines from shore or by boat with live baits, such as worms, soldier crabs and yabbies (nippers). Fresh peeled prawns can also be used.

Other Whiting Photos:
 

Cooking Sand Whiting:
Whiting, when cooked have a delicate tasting, white flesh, but many fine bones.

To Buy
Sold whole (gilled and gutted), as trunks (headless), and in single and butterflied fillets. In whole fish look for lustrous skin, firm flesh, and a pleasant, fresh sea smell. In fillets, look for yellowish-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, gilled, gutted and cleaned thoroughly. 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 -18ºC.

To Cook
Average yield is 40%. Has a delicate, sweet flavour, low oiliness and moist, medium-textured, flaky flesh with fine bones, which are easily removed. The edible skin can be left on and the bones make excellent stock.

Cooking Methods
Steam, poach, deep-fry, pan-fry, stir-fry, bake, braise, grill, barbecue, raw (sashimi). Thin fillets are best wrapped in foil or banana leaves to protect them when barbecuing or grilling. A good plate-sized fish cooked whole. Flesh has good gelling characteristics and works well in mousseline.


Alternatives Fish to use when cooking:
Dory, Flathead, Flounder, Garfish, other Whitings.

Relations
King George Whiting, School Whiting, Trumpeter Whiting, Yellowfin Whiting and the other 20 or so species of Whiting (Sillaginidae) distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Blue Weed Whiting (Haletta semifasciata) is a Wrasse, not a Whiting. In the northern hemisphere the name ‘whiting’ is also applied to various unrelated species, including Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) and English whiting (Merlangius merlangus).