00:00So we're Wild Catch Fisheries operating in Karumba for Gulf Barramundi.
00:08We also operate for Reef Line Fishing Coral Trout on the East Coast and Spanish Mackerel.
00:12So we created our retail shop 13 years ago to showcase all the fish my partner, Mark Gray, catches with his 35 years experience.
00:21So yeah, very big passion of ours.
00:23And so how big a part of your business is the barra?
00:25Obviously a very large part. It is a six month season for us.
00:31We have good catches, good supply. Much love by our consumers.
00:36Everybody wants wild caught seafood, you know, local, knowing who caught it, where, when, how.
00:41We're very transparent in our operations as to how we catch the fish.
00:46We look after it. So quality is paramount.
00:48And so the barra season is just beginning now. And how is this season looking?
00:53The season should be looking great once we get out there.
00:58Obviously, we are delayed with the floods in Karumba at the moment.
01:01Can't get in, can't get the fish out. The road's been closed.
01:06So, yeah, we'll start in March when conditions are right rather than by calendar days.
01:10But, yeah, we're a family operation, Mark and our two children.
01:15Yeah, son and daughter are our crew. They can't wait to get out there.
01:18Yeah, good stuff. And so there's going to be plenty of barra in the water this season when you're going to be able to get in there.
01:26But what, yeah, why will there be so many barra in the water?
01:30Obviously, yeah, we've had good conditions the last few years, the last few years of floods.
01:34It's good to get the rivers flowing, helps with their breeding, their movement.
01:38It's an abundant food source. It gets rid of the silt in the rivers, gives everything a good flush.
01:43Obviously, we've got seasonal closures.
01:46So the fish get to spawn uninterrupted from the 7th of October through to the 1st of February.
01:51And then later for those operators that don't get in there until March.
01:54Yep. And so is there barra fishing on both sides of the Cape or just in the Gulf?
02:01So we went, underwent significant reforms recently.
02:04So a lot of the western side of the Cape around the Weepa area obviously has been closed down.
02:09There's a lot of areas that are now net free zones.
02:12So the Gulf is obviously one of the last frontiers left over there.
02:16And then minimal fishers on the East Coast, I think there's 27 operators left in the NX fishery on the East Coast.
02:24Right. And the summer ban on commercial fishing came back in 1981.
02:31It was to protect the future of the species.
02:34I'm not saying you're that old, but was it controversial when it happened?
02:38And looking back, do you reckon it was the right call?
02:41Yeah, obviously, you know, it came in when I was first here, but yeah, it probably would have been controversial at the time.
02:50Obviously, fishers would have been losing a, you know, amount of productive fishing time in the calendar year.
02:56But yeah, it's obviously a necessary requirement for the betterment of fish stocks.
03:00So we're all for the closures.
03:02They serve their purpose to ensure that the fish get to breed.
03:05Yeah, important for commercial and recreational, you know, fishermen not to be in those areas so that they can spawn.
03:13Yeah, helps fish stocks.
03:14And do you know the percentage of barris sold in Australia that is wild caught?
03:18Obviously, you're passionate about wild caught compared to the percentage that is from farms.
03:25I don't have the exact numbers on me at the moment, but we've always, you know, had the figures of wild barramundi is less than 5% of the market share.
03:33Yeah.
03:33In Australia.
03:33Wow.
03:34Yeah, so depending on obviously the fluctuation of the year, how many tons come out of the Gulf, obviously, since, you know, the last few years with the reduction on the East Coast, there's less fish coming in there.
03:46But obviously, the fish stocks are healthy.
03:48Fishes that remain are seeing good catches.
03:50That's the important part.
03:53Yeah, so I think it's going to be good to be able to have their wild caught seafood ongoing.
03:57Yeah, and if people want to buy wild caught, what do they, apart from kind of looking for the labels, what do they look out for when they're on the shelves and they want to go for wild caught?
04:08Yeah, so hopefully seafood shops are labelling.
04:10They usually either share the story, the provenance of the fish.
04:14They'll name their fish up, the region.
04:17You know, in our shop, our fish is labelled saying our boat with the boat name, which people always look for.
04:24Yeah, they're very proud to see, you know, that we're the ones catching the fish.
04:27And, yeah, other shops, I assume, would be doing the same.
04:30There is a few characteristics that you can see on farm fish, the colour of the flesh, things like that.
04:35But, yeah, it's mainly just asking a seafood retailer, you know, to know.
04:41And I used to work back up in the Gulf country as a journo back in the early 90s,
04:47and I think I can vaguely remember doing a story on the start of the season back then,
04:51and there was a bit of a ceremony or something like that.
04:54Does that still happen?
04:56No, there's not as much activity up in the Caramba as what there used to be back in the heyday.
05:01Yeah, so there still is, like, you know, it's a hive of activity.
05:04It is a big, you know, event for the town.
05:07Obviously, it's a commercial fishing town.
05:09Yeah.
05:10So, yeah, there is a little bit of processes when the boats go into the water.
05:14Yeah, they've got to travel on their trailer from the land that they're stored on down the roads,
05:18you know, by a tractor into the river.
05:21Yeah, it's a bit of a highlight for us.
05:22You know, the kids are always there putting the boat in, pulling the boat out at the end of the season.
05:26Yeah.
05:26The town is much calmer now than what it used to be.
05:29Yeah.
05:29And is your daughter going to be on the boat for the season this year for the first time?
05:35Yes, she is.
05:35So, yeah, graduated grade 12 last year, has been asking to go fishing with Dad since she was three.
05:41Yeah, she actually did a, yeah, two-week stint.
05:44I think it was about three years ago and has just waited ever since.
05:47So, yeah, this is her chance.
05:49Obviously, you know, while we can operate, you never know what's around the corner.
05:52And it's that knowledge transfer.
05:54There's obviously a lot of fishing knowledge that is handed down from generational fishermen.
06:00So, yeah, you'd like to know that that's retained and not lost.
06:04Yeah.
06:05So, yeah.
06:06So, yeah.
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