Fishing - a sustainable industry

The commercial fishing industry is often misrepresented and misunderstood. Professional fishermen spend most of their time at sea and are often unavailable for comment to the media when issues arise regarding their industry.

My aim is to give you some extra information on the seafood we recommend in this book. As sustainability and our carbon footprint are regularly in the news we hope to dispel any myths and give you a greater understanding of how your seafood got to your plate.   Australia is one of the mostly highly regulated and managed fisheries in the world. Our fishermen respect the ocean and love their lifestyle. Many ports have been operating for generations and with correct management they will continue to operate for years to come, supplying Australians with a healthy sustainable local food source. 

In this book I often refer to wild caught seafood.  It will always be my first choice when buying and cooking seafood.I have worked in the commercial fishing for over 10 years and the Brown family have worked in Mooloolaba’s fishing industry for over twenty three years.

Our fisheries are managed sustainably

Australia has some of the toughest fisheries management processes in the world. Our fisheries are accredited under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act by the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA).

Prawn trawlers use TEDS (turtle excluder devices). Turtle excluder devices release all large species such as turtle, sharks rays and dolphins (not just turtles). The Prawn Trawlers are also allocated a certain number of nights per year to trawl and our tuna industry is governed by hook quotas. This is just a few of the many regulations put in place to secure our industry’s sustainability. 

"Fishermen respect the ocean and need sustainability for their futures"

Please support your local commercial fisherman. Buying locally also reduces your carbon footprint and supports your community.   

They say every family needs a farmer, but they also need a fisherman! Become familiar with our fishing fleet - they are committed to bringing you the best, for many generations to come.

Prawn Trawling

Prawn trawling is the area I know best as I have been unloading prawn boats for over ten years, but there is a lot of information about Australian wild caught prawns that many people don’t know.
Like spanner crab boats, prawn trawlers also fish over flat sandy bottoms with little or no impact on the environment. Prawns are nocturnal and live on the sea bed. Trawlers’ target species are prawns and scallops and their by product is Moreton Bay and Balmain bugs as well as sandcrabs.  All these species live on the sea bed and are caught together. All prawn boats have been fitted with TEDs (turtle excluder devices) and BRD (by catch reduction devices). These have been mandatory for over ten years and has allowed for their by catch to be reduced to minimal numbers. 

Most cooked prawns you buy have been cooked at sea by the fishermen in sea water. This enhances their taste and texture. Prawns are also graded at sea and packaged in 5kg cartons depending on their size. Because these prawns are cooked and snap frozen straight after they are caught, all the flavour has been locked in. If thawed correctly the flavour is superb. The commercial grade freezers on the boats store the prawns at minus 30 degrees.