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Photos,
Fishing, Angling, Catching, Cooking Information
Barramundi (Lates calcarifer)
Photographs and Information
|
Also known as Sea Bass, Barra,
giant perch, giant sea perch, silver barramundi
Barramundi are harvested as part of the set gill net fishery on the eastern coast of
Queensland and in the Gulf of Carpentaria. They are also farmed.
Available both wild-caught
and farmed, it is caught using gillnets in coastal and fresh
waters in Australia’s tropical north, from the Ashburton River
in WA to the Noosa River in Queensland. They live in rivers and
creeks, but do move into estuaries and coastal shallows to
breed. Darwin, Weipa, Cairns, Innisfail, Townsville, Bundaberg
and Adelaide are all important Barramundi farming centres.
The name Barramundi came
from an Aboriginal word that means ‘large scaled river fish’
Queensland barramundi have a single annual summer spawning period, with the timing and
duration varying between regions, river systems and from year to year depending on water
temperature and salinity.
Generally fish spawn around river mouths so that larval and juvenile barramundi can use
swamps that form during the monsoon season. Annual wet season rainfall influences
adult spawning success and juvenile recruitment.
Juvenile barramundi are highly dependent on estuarine and freshwater habitats.
They move from the estuarine areas up into the freshwater habitats to grow for one to two
years. During the dry season, Barramundi may become land-locked in up river
waterholes and lagoons of river systems. They move back to tidal areas when rains
open these rivers.
Did you know? Females produce a lot
of eggs - about 300,000 per kg of body weight. The eggs hatch within 20 hours
and grow quickly.
Did you know?
Barramundi
are born as males and at about 6 years of age,
Barramundi have reached over 80cm and are now female for
breeding..
For that reason you find
that in Australia, in areas that are heavily fished you are not
allowed to keep Barramundi over 80 cm. It's catch and release
so future generations of anglers will still be able to go
Barramundi fishing.
|
Advanced Secrets Of Tuna Fishing
- What Some Fisherman Are Calling The Tuna Fishing
Book Of The Century. Action Packed With Exciting
Stories And Insider Secrets From Tuna Fisherman And
Charter Boat Skippers. Aimed At Everyday Users To Teach
Them How To Find, Attract And Catch Tuna! |
|
 |
 |
|
|
| Scientific Name |
Lates calcarifer |
| Location |
Northern half of Australia |
| Season |
All year round |
| Size |
To 56 kg |
| Australian Species Code |
37 288001 |
.
|
Nutritional Information
For every 100 grams raw product
for Barramundi fillet. |
|
Kilojoules |
- |
|
Cholesterol |
45
mg |
|
Sodium |
- |
|
Total fat (oil) |
0.9
g |
|
Saturated fat |
43%
of total fat |
|
Monounsaturated fat |
32%
of total fat |
|
Polyunsaturated fat |
26%
of total fat |
|
Omega-3, EPA |
11
mg |
|
Omega-3, DHA |
50
mg |
|
Omega-6, AA |
57
mg |
|
Other
Barramundi Links:
More Information on Barramundi
Worldwide Trade Seafood Industry
Directory of companies and contacts who are Exporters,
Importers & Processors, Wholesale & Agents of Barramundi and Sea
Bass:
Aquaculture Producers of Barramundi |
Processors of Barramundi |
Exporters of Barramundi |
Importers of Barramundi |
Wholesale Suppliers of Barramundi |
Seafood Agents for Barramundi
and
Aquaculture Producers of Sea Bass |
Exporters of Sea Bass |
Importers of Sea Bass |
Processors of Sea Bass |
Wholesale Suppliers of Sea Bass |
Seafood Agents for Sea Bass
|
Barramundi are
euryhaline, meaning they can live in both fresh and salt
water. However, barramundi eggs and larvae will only survive
in brackish or salt water (salinities between 22 and 40 parts
per thousand (ppt)) and for this reason all breeding takes place
in river mouths and bays near areas of suitable nursery habitat.
Areas such as mangrove swamps and low-lying land that becomes
flooded during spring tides and monsoonal rains provide ideal
habitat for juvenile barramundi.
Barramundi eat a range of
food including fishes, shrimp, crayfish, crab and aquatic
insects and they are mainly but not exclusively nocturnal
feeders.
Barramundi are a very important commercial species. They are excellent eating.
The Barramundi is a big fish. It can weigh
10 to 20 kg and more, and a length of over 1 metre isn't
uncommon. Its maximum size is 1.8 metres and it will then weigh
about 60 kg.
Barramundi are predators and love to hang out near rocks
and logs, where they can hide and wait for unsuspecting smaller fish or
crustaceans |
Angling Fishing for Barramundi:
Barramundi Fishing: Barramundi are a
premier game and sport fish, and they are prolific all
across the Northern Territory and Kimberley coast. Their full
range extends from Shark Bay in Western Australia across the top
and down to the Mary and Maroochy river systems in Queensland.
Dawn and dusk is the
preferred time and the summer months (November to March) during
calm humid conditions the best. Deep diving lures cast around
structure, weed beds, drowned timber etc. is the way, although
trolling can also produce the goods.
Fishing methods
include trolling, lure casting out soft plastics, hard body
baits like crank baits, and surface lures. Barramundi fishing
can be undertaken by casting lures to “structure” such as
submerged logs, rock bars and overhanging banks. Barramundi are
basically lazy fish and mostly will not put in too much effort
to catch a feed so casting needs to be tight. Barramundi can
also be caught by fly fishing and by trolling and
they can be tough on gear so make sure you have the best.
A favourite haunt for
barramundi is amongst mangroves and around submerged logs and
other overhangs where it waits to ambush it’s pray. Barramundi
prefer larger waters with a slow continuous flow and water
temperatures above 20 C.
The Barra will hit the lure or fly hard and run for the snags
and the fisherman is usually the loser if the fish gets there.
Lure casting and trolling:
- Solid Baitcaster rod and reel
- Up to 20lb braid with up to 50lb
leader
- Lures to suite. There are literally
hundreds of Barramundi fishing lures on the market and
everyone swears by a different type. Gold, brown, blue and
red seem to be popular choices in colour and what ever you
get should swim at least two meters deep if not deeper.
Visit a local tackle shop before you set out and ask them
what works best locally.
Fly fishing gear should include the
following:
- 8/9 weight saltwater rod
- Appropriate reel with at least 200m
of 15-20kg backing. Braid is best.
- Flyline- intermediate and/or floating
weight forward.
- Class leader 1-1.5m of 6-10 kg
- Shock tippet of .5 m of 20kg mono
- Popular Flies include Lefty’s
Deceivers (white, green, yellow) ,,Clouser minnow –
white/red and black/gold, Pink Things, Poppers – frog
imitations , Polar Fiber Minnow , Gold Bomber ,Crazy Charlie
Barramundi Closed Season - Queensland:
|
Location |
Period of Closure |
| Barramundi |
Gulf of
Carpentaria and adjoining waterways south of the intersection of longitude 142 09' east
with the shore at high watermark.
|
Variable from
year to year depending upon the spawning season. Refer to the Queensland Fisheries
Management Authority (QFMA) or Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol for details. |
|
Elsewhere |
Midday 1 Nov. - midday 1 Feb |
|
Cooking Barramundi:
Barramundi flesh is white and moist
with a medium to firm texture and fairly large flakes. The
flavour is mild, subtle and highly prized. Barramundi are very
versatile when it comes to cooking. Barramundi is well suited to
all methods of cookery because of its moist texture and mild
flavour. It is delicious when pan-fried, steamed, chargrilled or
barbecued. Best served with leafy green vegetables such as baby
bok choy and rocket.
Whole
Farmed Barramundi with a Soy & Ginger Sauce
- Asian style marinated and
served with steamed Chinese vegetables.
Char-grilled Barramundi Burger with tropical Salsa
- marinated with lemon
and white wine, char-grilled and serviced on a bun with a
paw-paw, roma tomato and avocado salad
Barramundi with Olives, Tomatoes & Garlic
- Barramundi with a lovely
sauce of chopped Kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, garlic and
fresh thyme.
| Colour of Raw
Fillet: |
White |
| Texture: |
Large, firm flakes.
Tender. |
| Fat Content: |
Low to high (varies with season) |
| Flavour: |
Distinct mild flavour. |
|
Nutritional Information
For every 100 grams raw product
for Barramundi fillet. |
|
Kilojoules |
- |
|
Cholesterol |
45
mg |
|
Sodium |
- |
|
Total fat (oil) |
0.9
g |
|
Saturated fat |
43%
of total fat |
|
Monounsaturated fat |
32%
of total fat |
|
Polyunsaturated fat |
26%
of total fat |
|
Omega-3, EPA |
11
mg |
|
Omega-3, DHA |
50
mg |
|
Omega-6, AA |
57
mg |
|
|
Barramundi Recipes
Barramundi (Sea Bass) Recipes from How to
Cook Fish

Barramundi Fillet
|
Buying Barramundi
Wild-caught Barramundis are usually sold in fillets or cutlets.
In fillets and cutlets, look for lustrous, firm, moist
white-pinkish flesh without any brown markings or oozing water
and with a pleasant fresh smell. Farmed baby Barramundis are
mostly sold whole, look for firm flesh, which springs back when
touched and a pleasant fresh smell.
To Store
Make sure whole fish is scaled, gutted and cleaned thoroughly.
Wrap whole fish, fillets and cutlets in plastic wrap or place in
an airtight container. Refrigerate for 2-3 days or freeze whole
fish for up to 6 months, and fillets or cutlets for up to 3
months, below -18ºC.
To Cook
Yield is 45-50%. Barramundi flesh has large flakes, mild
flavour, low-medium oiliness depending on the season, moist
flesh and medium to firm texture depending on size. Wild-caught
Barramundi has only a few large bones, which can easily be
removed. Cut large fillets into serving size portions. The
centre bone of cutlets can be removed and a filling placed in
the cavity. Baby Barramundis are best served whole (scaled,
gutted and cleaned) as they are an ideal plate-sized fish.
Barramundi skin is fine and can be left on during cooking.
|
Commercial Fishing
for Barramundi:
Season
Wild-caught Barramundis are available from February to October,
with the main season being February to April.
Size and Weight
Barramundis mature as males after 3 years, measuring up to 60cm
in length, then change into females after 5 years. They can
reach up to 1.5m and 50kg, although most wild-caught fish weigh
less than 6kg. Farmed Barramundis average 400-600g and 30-37cm
and are commonly sold as ‘baby’, or ‘plate-sized’, Barramundi.
Some Barramundi farmers are now producing larger fish weighing
around 3kg, these are flakier and have firmer flesh than ‘baby’
Barramundi.

Farming Barramundi Aquaculture:
Barramundi Lates calcarifer, occurs
throughout the South-East Asian region, including northern
Australia (Figure 1). In South-East Asia barramundi is known as
Asian sea bass and a successful farming industry, particularly
in Thailand, has been established for many years. In the wild,
they can grow to 180 cm total length (up to 60 kg) but farmed
fish are usually sold at plate size (500 g) or around 3 kg (for
filleting).
Research into the culture of barramundi began in Australia in
1984 with studies carried out by the Queensland Government. The
work was initially aimed at adapting culture techniques
developed in Thailand to Australian conditions. Following the
evident success of preliminary research, the first commercial
barramundi hatchery and farm was started in 1986 in Mourilyan
Harbour, North Queensland (Schipp, 1996).
There are three culture systems
currently used in Australia for producing barramundi
fingerlings:
1. clear-water tank culture (considered intensive larval
rearing);
2. green-water tank culture (semi-intensive larval
rearing); and
3. pond culture (extensive larval rearing).
For more information on
these 3 culture systems,
see here
Barramundi are currently being farmed in Queensland, Northern
Territory, South Australia, New South Wales and Western
Australia. Queensland's barramundi industry has experienced the
greatest expansion over recent years with commercial aquaculture
production of plate-size fish growing from zero in 1986 to 349.4
tonnes (t) in 1996-97, worth $3.44 million (Lobegeiger et al.,
1998). Estimated national production in 1995-96 was 529 tonnes,
worth $5.83 million (Brown et al., 1997).
Barramundi move between fresh
and salt water during various stages of their
life cycle. Mature barramundi live in estuaries
and associated coastal areas or in the lower
reaches of rivers. Larvae and young juveniles
inhabit seasonal brackish-water swamps
associated with estuaries and older juveniles
are found in the upper reaches of rivers (Schipp,
1996).
A total of 16 genetically
distinct stocks of barramundi in various major
river systems throughout Australia have been
identified, although populations in WA have not
been studied exhaustively (Makaira 1999). This
has caused problems in developing barramundi
aquaculture, particularly in WA, due to the
variation in maturation and spawning stimuli
between these genetically discrete populations.
As barramundi farming is
well established in the Eastern States, the
production phases and options for farming are
well known. The flow chart on the preceding
pages summarise these phases which are discussed
in detail within this document. Initial attempts
to induce spawning with WA-caught barramundi
using Eastern States techniques were
unsuccessful (Lawrence, 1995). It appears that
current Australian spawning induction methods
will require further modification before WA
barramundi can be induced to spawn in a captive
environment. The following description of
spawning techniques are therefore based on
techniques currently used by farmers in other
States.
Hatchery production of
barramundi commences with the spawning of
captive breeding fish or 'broodstock' and is
completed when the small fish or 'fingerlings'
are 20 to 25mm long (Schipp, 1996). In
preparation for examination of the spawning
condition of the fish, the broodstock must first
be caught and anaesthetised. Once anaesthetised,
barramundi broodstock are cannulated to assess
gonadal development (using a piece of silicon
tubing, a small sample of eggs or sperm (milt)
are removed from gonads and examined
microscopically). Only animals with sufficient
egg and sperm development are capable of being
stimulated to complete their gonadal development
and spawn. Suitable female fish should have a
majority of tertiary yolk eggs with diameters of
>0.4mm (400 microns), while male fish should
produce at least a bead of milt when gently test
stripped or have a 5mm milt plug in the catheter
tube.
Captive barramundi broodstock that are held in
recirculating systems (20 to 80t) and
conditioned to a constant environment of
salinity 30 to 36ppt, temperature 28o to 29oC
and summer photoperiod (13 hour day length) are
able to be induced to spawn using hormones year
round (Garrett & O'Brien, 1994). For detailed
instructions on the preparation and
administration of hormones for barramundi
broodstock please refer to Schipp (1996).
Generally, a commercial barramundi hatchery
holds between 25 and 70 brood fish, ranging in
size from 3 to 20kg. Excess broodstock are
preferred to ensure egg supply but the actual
number required depends on the performance of
the fish (i.e. fecundity, ease of spawning,
regularity of spawning etc.), with the cost of
holding broodstock requiring consideration.
Maintenance of genetic diversity in farmed
populations is facilitated by use of large
numbers of broodstock.
Eastern States barramundi spawn naturally in
tanks following injection of luteinizing
hormone-releasing hormone analogue (LHRH-a) at
19 to 27 micrograms per kilogram (µg/kg) of body
weight. Each female releases 3 to 6 million eggs
and the males immediately 'pirouette' around the
females' tail, releasing their sperm (Figure 2).
Males do not require hormonal stimulation as
they receive visual cues from the female to
release sperm (Garrett & O'Brien, 1994).
Diet for Farm Reared Barramundi:
In Australia, farmed
barramundi are reared on dry, pelleted
diets, in contrast to South-East Asia where they
are usually reared on 'trash' fish or in
association with a foraging species such as
Tilapia spp (Barlow et al., 1996. Weaning fry
from live feed to dry crumbles can be commenced
with fry as small as 10 mm TL, but much better
survival and quicker adaptation onto the dry
diets is obtained if weaning is delayed until
the fry are at least 15 to 20 mm TL (Barlow et
al., 1996).
Barramundi are reared on
progressively larger pellets as they grow from
fingerling to market size. Most farmers prefer
to use semi-floating extruded pellets as they
float about 20cm from the water surface.
Barramundi are reluctant to feed from the water
surface or the pond or tank bottom. Diets
produced by Australian fish feed manufacturers
give good food conversion ratios (FCR) of 1.6 to
1.8:1 under commercial farm conditions (Barlow
et al., 1996).
Recent research has shown
use of high protein (> 55%) and high energy (>
18% fat) diets for juvenile and plate-sized
barramundi can greatly improve growth, FCR (<
1.0 in experimental systems) and profitability
of barramundi farming. Formulated feeds need to
be stored correctly to avoid loss of nutrients,
this is particularly important in the tropics
where fats will quickly go rancid and vitamins
break down if not stored in an air-conditioned
room. Pelleted feed should not be stored for
extended periods (Schipp, 1996).
More links about
Barramundi:
Western Australian Fisheries - Publications and information
on popular freshwater and saltwater aquaculture
species: Ornamental Fish, Silver Perch, Black Bream, Red Claw,
Trout, Yabbys, Marron, Mussels, Pearls, Western Rock Lobster,
Trochus, Abalone, Barramundi, Fin Fish, Prawns. |
|