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Fish, Crustaceans & Cephalopods

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

Moreton Bay Bugs are also known as Bay Lobster, Bug, Shovelnose Lobster, Slipper Lobster, Squat Lobster and Mud Bug.

Moreton Bay Bugs are found along the entire coast of the northern half of Australia.   They live on the sea bed, in turbid inshore coastal waters from 10 metres to 30 metres in depth over soft, unconsolidated mud and fine sand and silt particles.

Two spawning or more are common and take place during the summer.  A female can produce between 16,000 and 60,000 (average 32,000) eggs per brood.

They are active at night, remaining buried in bottom sediment with only their eyes and antennules or "feelers" exposed during the day.  They are highly mobile and can move great distances (up to 50 nautical miles)

Adults are selective foragers and will capture live prey including fish, crustaceans and molluscs.

Moreton Bay Bugs are generally caught commercially as a by-catch of local prawn fisheries by demersal otter trawls and with dredge nets.

Other Moreton Bay Bugs Links:

Lobster, Bugs & Slipper Lobster Recipes
 from How To Cook Fish & Seafood

Exporters, Importers & Processors, Wholesale & Agents of Moreton Bay Bugs

Fishing for Moreton Bay Bugs:

Cooking Moreton Bay Bugs - Slipper Lobsters:

Buying
Bugs are usually sold whole, sometimes live but often already cooked. If possible buy live from a tank, in which case they should be lively with a hard shell (indicating that they haven’t recently moulted) and all legs and antennae should be intact. Unlike Crabs and Rock lobsters, Bugs don’t survive well out of water; if buying chilled green (raw dead) Bugs, ask when they were alive, they should only be stored chilled for about 48 hours before being cooked. In cooked Bugs, look for brightly coloured, firm, intact, lustrous shells, without any discolouration, particularly at joints, and a pleasant fresh sea smell. They should feel heavy for their size and their tails should be tightly curled.

Storing
Live Bugs won’t survive long out of water and deteriorate quickly once dead. Live Bugs can be stored in a container, covered with a damp cloth, in the warmest part of the refrigerator (usually the crisper), for a few hours. If keeping any longer, chill them in the freezer to kill them quickly (see Killing below); wrap green or cooked Bugs or Bug meat in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days (from when they were alive) or freeze for up to 3 months below -18ºC.

Killing
The easiest and most humane way to kill any crustacean is to chill it in the freezer for 30-45 minutes until it becomes insensible (but not long enough to freeze it). This should be long enough to kill Bugs, which can then be refrigerated as above (see www.rspca.org.au) for details on killing other live crustaceans).

Cooking
Steam, poach, deep-fry, pan-fry, stir-fry, grill, or barbecue Bugs. Moreton Bay Bugs have a sweet rich flavour, stronger than Rocklobsters but milder than Balmain Bugs, which have a more ‘fishy’ flavour. Undercook, rather than overcook, Bugs, as they will continue cooking in the residual heat; if overcooked the meat will be tough and leathery. Use the shell to flavour stocks, soups and sauces.

Preparing Balmain Bugs to Serve:
Step 1: Place bug, hard shell down, on a chopping board. Insert the tip of the knife under the joint between the head and body. Pull off head.
Step 2: Cut down the centre from the tail to the top. Gently split shell open to flatten bug.
Step 3: Remove intestinal tract (devein). The bug meat can be served in or out of the shell.

To boil an uncooked Bug, chill it well if it’s alive (see Killing Bugs above), then place into a large pot of rapidly boiling water that has been well salted (½ cup table salt to 2.5 litres water), for 6-8 minutes depending on size, timed from when the water returns to the boil. Refresh in iced water.

To serve in shell: place the chilled or cooked Bug on its back and, using a sharp knife or Chinese cleaver, split the length of the shell from head to tail. As Bugs have thick shells, which can be difficult to cut in half, you can always ask your fishmonger to halve them for you. Remove the digestive tract (grey thread) running down the middle of the tail meat and use a teaspoon to clean out the head cavity; some people retain the yellowy-orange tomalley or ‘mustard’ (liver), to enrich sauce or mayonnaise.

To serve meat only: either split Bug lengthwise (as above) and lift out the 2 pieces of meat, or, to keep the meat in one piece, turn tail over and cut down either side of the underside of the tail shell using kitchen scissors, peel shell back and remove meat.

Serving
Do not recook cooked Bugs, serve cold in salads or with mayonnaise (flavoured with garlic or herbs) or other dipping sauce; they’re excellent split in half as part of a cold seafood platter, and the meat can be used as a garnish for soups, tossed through hot pasta or in other dishes where it’s only lightly reheated, such as omelettes. To barbecue, cut in half lengthwise and cook in the shell with garlic or herb butter drizzled over the cut surface. The firm raw flesh holds together well in soups, curries and casseroles and threaded on skewers for kebabs. Bugs can be used in almost any recipe calling for Lobsters, Rocklobsters, Prawns or Freshwater Crayfish.

Commercial Fishing for Moreton Bay Bugs:

The Trawl Industry

The Queensland Trawl Fishery targets several species of prawns, scallops and other species. Trawls alter the substrate cover in the area being swept by the trawl and they catch fish and other bottom-dwelling (benthic) animals as a bycatch. Trawlers take and market a range of bycatch species, including Moreton Bay bugs, blue swimmer crabs, winter whiting, squid, cuttlefish and other species.

The trawl fishery is Queensland's largest commercial fishery with an average annual catch of about 6500 tonnes valued at $100m and 1200 tonnes of scallop meat valued at around $30m (QFMA 1998). The majority of catch is taken within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area with hotspots occurring in Moreton Bay, Townsville region, and Princess Charlotte Bay. Currently, 820 trawl boat licences from QFMA permit participation in the fishery with approximately 600 operating in the Marine Park.

Trawlers can tow either otter or beam trawl nets, travelling across the seabed at slow speeds, mainly between 2.5 and 3.5 knots at various depths. Otter trawls are used primarily for the capture of prawns and scallops, whereas beam trawlers (usually operating inshore and in estuaries, eg. Moreton Bay, Hervey Bay), is used for the capture of prawns (usually, greasyback, school and banana prawns). Beam trawling involves towing of a trawl net with the mouth of the net held open by a rigid frame on skids. Most of the catch goes to the bait market, but banana prawns are sold for human consumption.

How to tell Balmain and Moreton Bay Bugs apart: Balmain is a narrow peninsula and Balmain Bugs’ eyes are narrow, located close together in the centre of their heads. Moreton Bay is a wide bay and Moreton Bay Bugs’ eyes are set broadly apart on either side of their shells. Slipper Lobsters’ eyes are in between, closer to the edges than the centre, but not on the actual edge.

More links about Moreton Bay Bugs: