Big market for 'bait' fish
The New South Wales far south coast fishing industry has found a big market for a species previously considered useful only as bait.
The Eden Fish Co-operative is sending pilchards to multi-cultural markets in the capital cities and is expected to earn a half a million dollars annually.
The Co-op's manager, Glenn Richardson, says the new market is helping the industry recover after a Federal Government restructure.
"They are competitively priced and they're certainly a lot more lucrative than the bait market," he said.
"We get $3 or $4 a kilo for something that's hard to imagine eating.
"They are very popular in Sydney and Melbourne."
Courtesy of the ABC
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hlokk
Posts: 4293
Date Joined: 04/04/08
I've had fried whitebait
I've had fried whitebait before, but I dont know about mulies.
If its more lucrative for food than bait, does that mean that bait prices could eventually rise due to competition? If you could get fresh, unfrozen mulies for $3-4/kg, it would probably make better bait than the frozen stuff ;)
Daisy
Posts: 789
Date Joined: 24/01/08
Fremantle Sardines (Mulies,
Fremantle Sardines (Mulies, Pilchards) have been consumed by people over here for years, recommend the Chargrilled Freo Sardines and Greek salad at Cicerellos, very nice.
What it will do is increase demand on the Pilchard population which, as we know, everything likes to eat.
The view expressed in this post is that of a self opinionated bullshitter and does not reflect that of this website, it's owners, mediators, other members or anyone else for that matter :-P
Brunno
Posts: 22
Date Joined: 13/08/09
Pilchards vs Mulies
I grew up in that area of NSW and we used to buy WA Mulies for bait (called them Pilchards back then of course). Catching them locally over there must be a relatively new thing. Hopefully It might decrease the demand on our WA Mulies.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Mulies are 1st class
Mulies are 1st class sardines in any other country. Great chargrilled for sure!
Matt T
Posts: 875
Date Joined: 19/11/07
What?
Don't you guys fry up the bait if the tailor aren't biting??? LOL
Lucky Tim
Posts: 2536
Date Joined: 28/11/07
When I was in Port Lincoln
When I was in Port Lincoln we'd get fresh pillies (mulies) straight off the boats for bait but would normally keep a few and grill or have the fillets on toast. Very tasty.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8706
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Mulies
Going back a few years,used to pick up cray bait from the cold stores.There were imported Californian mulies/sardines in 1x metre cube blocks destined for the South Aust tuna farms.There were semitrailer loads of them.About that time they were blamed for bringing in the herpies virus that nearly wiped out mulie fishing in WA,took years for them to recover enough to start catching again.
Have tried the Freo sardines,bit strong for my taste but son[Deepwater]loves them.
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
We dared a bloke to eat a bowl of corn flakes
covered with beer and topped off with mulies. He ate it and was crook as a dog later.
The stupid things you do on pissy trips away.
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UncutTriggerInWA
Posts: 2692
Date Joined: 05/09/08
My Dog gets crook on them
My dog steals my mullies all the time and chomps them down. Funnily enough, he always spews up when he gets home...I'm sure it isn't the beer...
Didn't one of the teams on Master Chef use the bait for their comp?? It seems the judges are still alive so bait can't be that bad LOL.
Vince.
Work smart and fish often.
Member and die-hard supporter of the mighty West Coast Eagles.
FishoStu
Posts: 38
Date Joined: 25/03/08
Thats something Im worried
Thats something Im worried about with my dog.
I heard someone once got excited when there rig went reeling off line only
to realise it was the dog running down the beach with his bait & hooks etc.
UncutTriggerInWA
Posts: 2692
Date Joined: 05/09/08
My Dog learns fast
I managed to hook my mutt through the nose with a gang. It was a bit Gen-Y looking after I cut the hook. It cost me $300 plus at the vet to get the rest of the hook out.
He now respects the rigs very much and only steals bait from the bucket. If UncleStu is around he normally prefers his bait to mine LOL.
Vince.
Work smart and fish often.
Member and die-hard supporter of the mighty West Coast Eagles.
synthos
Posts: 522
Date Joined: 23/06/07
Sardines
In spain we used to eat sardines and mulies look an awfull lot like them ;) but I would not eant my bait thats for sure and dogs yeah even my little shitzu keeps sniffing mulies excitingly but then all she dont eat so far is prawn crackers and she likes a drink ;)
southcity104
Posts: 1659
Date Joined: 27/01/09
smart marketing
I think its a case of smart marketing.
After Catching a half bucket of sardines once in a throw net i tossed a dozen in the pan for a fry up similar to white bait. It was un-swallowable. Tasted like a 50/50 mix of fish sauce and pure salt.
Skippy around the islands in cervantes love'em though
"Its a life style job"
carnarvonite
Posts: 8706
Date Joined: 24/07/07
WA Whitebait
If you buy WA whitebait caught around Bunbury/Busso,it goes straight from the net in to an ice slurry,weighed.packed in 1-2kg packs and snap frozen,you will find that it is sold as food grade fish not as bait.
Just give it a rinse and into a hot pan with a little garlic and heaps of butter and hey presto a feed of crispy magic
aquagenes
Posts: 223
Date Joined: 28/10/08
My old man eats the
My old man eats the anchovies from freo in salt,man they are stinky and i would not touch them let alone a mulie
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18330
Date Joined: 11/03/08
got to admit they are very
got to admit they are very tasty if cooked the right way, cooked on a hotplate even deep fried .
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
deepwater
Posts: 1927
Date Joined: 09/05/07
white bait or sardines are
white bait or sardines are all top of the table for me, well good for a change from reds and snapper ,for bait we take for granted they are great tucker
jeff