The barramundi lives in both fresh and salt water creeks and rivers. Its scientific name is Lates calcarifer. As the barramundi grows it changes colour. At four to five millimetres long it is completely green. At forty to fifty millimetres long it has a white belly and green back. When they get even older and are at least 250 to 300 millimetres long, they turn silver and black. They grow to an average length of 66 centimetres. The baby barramundi does not get scales until it is a juvenile. The barramundi is a slender, large mouthed fish, with red eyes. The average is 1.5 to 15 kilograms. When they are young they eat small crustaceans, and as they grow bigger they eat prawns, crabs, whiting and bream. Barramundi are delicious crumbed, and are very popular eating fish.
Coral trout is one of the tastiest fish on the market floors. They have oblong and compressed bodies. The colour of a trout is orange-red with blue spots all over them. The blue spots fade away when they come to the surface. Their eyes are black and orange with a blue rim around them. All coral trout have very sharp teeth. They feed on other fish. For trout to catch a fish they have to be waiting for an unwary move by one of their prey, like a fish too close, or too far from coral shelter. They also can stay around one area of coral for weeks or even months. When a coral trout takes a fish, it happens in a quick flash. There are five different coral trout. They are the footballer trout, and the blue spot trout, and the most common trout that are caught in the Burdekin region are leopard, passionfruit and the bar cheeked trout. Coral trout taste best when grilled and sprinkled with lemon juice and cracked pepper.
The mud crab lives in Northern Australia, Asia, Africa, India and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. They take shelter in the shallow, sheltered waters of estuaries and creeks, as well as in mangroves. In order to catch a mud crab you must have a pot. The scientific name for the mud crab is Scylla serrata. The crabs are greenish brown in colour, are oval shaped and are about 20 centimetres across and weigh about two kilograms. The mud crab’s predators include turtles, bigger fish, and other crabs, but mostly humans are the biggest predator. Mud crabs eat other crabs, snails, bivalves, worms and any remains of other dead animals, making them scavengers. When breeding, the female (known as a jenny) releases a chemical into the water in order to attract the male (buck), but sometimes the chemical may attract more than one buck, so they fight to settle it. Then the buck starts to carry the jenny around on his back for several days until she sheds her hard outer skeleton. Then the buck produces sperm to fertilize the eggs that the jenny laid. Some tips for cooking are: 1. Cook in creek water, 2. Cook broken up into pieces.
You catch red claw in creeks and in billabongs. They are most active in the hot summer months.They eat fish flakes, pellets, meat, fish and aquatic plants. Their predators are man, birds and snakes. They live in billabongs, creeks, and mangroves, and burrow under the sand. They breed when they’re 3-4 years old. Their colours are sandy brown, greenish and a red colour. A fully grown red claw weighs four to six kilograms. They can be ten to sixty centimetres long. They have no fins or scales. They have a shell and two big claws, which are for tearing their food apart, and for gripping on to things. They have a long body. Their scientific name is Cherax quadricarinatus.
The red emperor (Lutjannus sebae) live in tropical and sub-tropical waters, and occasionally wander as far south as northern New South Wales. The largest, best looking and most sought after of all the emperor clan, the red emperor is a very deep-bodied fish with strong jaws and a large, powerful tail. Red emperor colouration varies with age. The arrowhead pattern of stripes is darker and much more clearly defined when the fish is young. This fish is a stubby, wide fish and is a reddish colour, with three wide white stripes running vertically, and has a large dorsal fin which runs all the way along its back. Red emperor grow to well over a metre in length, and as much as 20 or 22 kilos in weight, although such giants are rare. Weights of between 1 and 8 kilos are the most common. Red emperor of all sizes are amongst the very best of the many fine table fish available in northern reef waters. The red emperor lives around coral and sand caves, in up to 20 metres of water. They feed on prawns, crabs, squid, octopus, and cuttlefish, as well as small, live fish. The highly prized red emperor or 'emperor' is also known as government bream, king snapper, red kelp, or simply as a ‘red’.
The Spanish Mackeral has a legal minimum catch size of 75cm. The mackeral’s scientific name is Scamberomorus commerson. It weighs about 70kg. The mackeral has strong jaws with sharp teeth. They have tough skin which is grey, silver and blue. It has a dorsal and anal fin. The mackeral survives on garfish and sardines. Mackeral are also tagged. Mackeral is a popular fish used in fish and chip shops. It is frequently battered and crumbed and has a firm fine flake. Mackeral is usually skinned when using as a lenghtways fillet, but can be eaten with the skin on. The fish is then cut crossways as a 'steak', with skin and the backbone intact.
Among the other species commonly caught in coastal north Queensland are whiting, bream, flathead, trevally, queenfish, cod, tailor, mangrove jack, grunter, sweetlip and prawns. Here are a few examples:
Wesley displays a nice couple of cod. |
Michelle and Matt sort out their catch of golden trevally. |
Simone shows the unusual head of the flathead. |
Nicole brings in an undersize bream. |
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