Who watched "what's the catch" on SBS tonight

What an eye opener, I was gob smacked to learn 70% of the sea food we consume here is imported. I had been told that some years back we consumed 100 odd tons of "Australian caught" Barramundi than was caught in the whole of Australia. Whether that was true or not I can't say but I do remember3 years back buying a feed of barramundi and chips on stokes wharf in Darwin and being a bit surprised at how cheap it was, asked where the barra came from and the answer was Indonesia. Did it taste all right yes it did however after tasting the genuine article (salt water barra) I wouldn't buy it again. It didn't taste bad but, it wasn't in the same ball park as the salt water stuff, which did cost a fair bit more but you pay for quality and that's the thing in all walks of life.

Who's going to have pizza from the major chains after seeing there non engagement in conversation or even bothering to reply to the phone calls, how bloody rude

After seeing Tracy, I wouldn't urinate on her if she was on fire. bloody rude bitch IMO


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 Certainly makes you

Thu, 2014-10-30 22:12

 Certainly makes you appreciate sustainable fisheries after seeing the rape and pillage of our neighboring countries!

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i saw most of it,

Thu, 2014-10-30 22:16

i saw most of it, but having been in the industry for many many years not much was a suprise though very interesting.

More so to me, to see the slant the story puts on it. Great that it did seem quite balanced and not leaning towards either green or anti green.

Prawns? Its not hard to tell the difference in taste and texture, but fact is most people dont want to pay the extra.

What DOES piss me off greatly is when you pay $45+ for a surf and turf, and the 3 prawns are cheap imported rubbish.

On the barra side, Nile Perch is virtually the same fish but freshwater and often passed off.

About 3 years back Red Rooster had a promo "Aussie Barra Burgers".

I knew straight away what it would be and sure enough within a few weeks they stopped it and apologised, the NT Fishermans assoc had quiried them on where they were sourcing their "Aussie Barra" from as it wasnt from any of their members.

How do they think they can get away with that stuff on national TV?

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carnarvonite's picture

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Watched it

Fri, 2014-10-31 06:21

I watched all of it with great interest and will watch the future episodes but won't be too surprised at what comes out.Like Rob H, I have spent quite a few years in the fishing industry and view anything about the supply of fish and its production and seeing that episode only reinforces what I have known for years that what you pay is what you get.

Hopefully in the future episodes they show how they farm the barra and other fish in the Mekong river right alongside sewer and outfall pipes. This is the stuff you get when you ask for fish and chips without stipulating what fish you want. Its convenient for the fish shops because it is already filleted in to serve size pieces and only needs thawing but at about a third the price of fresh fish

Travis S's picture

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That bottom dredging is a crime

Fri, 2014-10-31 06:23

 Went to Thailand first time a month or so ago, Khaolak area

was keen to go on a couple of longboat fishing trips that were being spruiked until I saw photos of some of their past catches.

people holding up 1kg magi mahi and long toms.And these were on the brag board!

Sure enough 50 km south was a pier housing over 20 big trawlers loaded with heavy duty nets and chain.

Made me realise how lucky we are here in Aus, though it's true that we are part responsible for this environmental tragedy by the amount of their produce we import.

 

 

uncle's picture

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allways knew there was a reason not to buy shit

Fri, 2014-10-31 07:53

from asia, rather go without

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Uluabuster's picture

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Agreed, not buying any

Fri, 2014-10-31 08:15

Agreed, not buying any imported frozen prawns or seafood. Years ago I read about prawn farming in Vietnam and the kind of chemicals & antibiotics they feed the prawns. So i steer clear of these imported junks.

I also make it a point not to order seafood dishes from restaurants because it is likely their stuffs are cheap import from China/Vietnam. A) The prawns are chemically fed prawns  B) The fish meat is 99% to be balsa fillet farmed in sewers of mekong.

I know a local seller who sets up store in Leeming & Leederville market selling all aussies prawns - banana, tiger etc. That's pretty all the prawns I eat.  (Not sure if it is MSC certified or not though...)

Auslobster's picture

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MSC...

Fri, 2014-10-31 08:31

...aka Marine Stewardship Council. Monstrous load of wank. For the right amount of palm-greasing, this mob will give the five-star stamp of approval to any fishery in the world.

 

It's a sad fact that overseas buyers will fork out big-time for WA seafood, and if the locals want any they're gonna have to pay accordingly. The fees we cough up for fishing licences/boat and gear expenses/etc are a reflection of that.

 

End of the day, if you want fish/crays/crabs/prawns from WA (your own doorstep), it's pay pay pay! Apologies to Happy Gilmore...

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 Not sure if I agree 100% as

Fri, 2014-10-31 14:22

 Not sure if I agree 100% as they certainly do a fairly rigorous auditing. However they dont do it for free so some palms certainly do need "greasing"

No different at all to the Heart Foundation "tick of approval" though.

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Guardy's picture

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Saw the same thing 3-4 years ago

Fri, 2014-10-31 08:31

in UK on TV when Hugh Fearnly-Whitingstall (from River Cottage) was tackling the big supermarkets. This is basically a remake done by an Aussie.

tangles's picture

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catch

Fri, 2014-10-31 09:31

 and thats why I will never pay for seafood. Suppose lucky to live in a town where I can catch my food everyday.

Amazing that the wetliners here still get around the same price per kg fordifferent fish yet the 3 or for middle men from then on markup the price until the consumer at the end gets bent over when they want to purchase fish from shop. I mean really is dhui really worth $80+ a kg! Pigs ass but thats what you pay

uncle's picture

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mind you

Fri, 2014-10-31 09:49

I never thought about it when we were having all the works in Thailand a few years ago

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Willlo's picture

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 Bought Fish and Chips

Fri, 2014-10-31 13:23

 Bought Fish and Chips today,local snapper $14 a piece,other so called snapper $9 a piece.

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Wharf Barra

Fri, 2014-10-31 17:10

I just came back from Darwin and while i didn't go to the wharf (2 busy fishing) my gf's mum did and they said that you could buy imported and homegrown barra, you just paid a little extra for our stuff.

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MSC vs Whats the catch

Sat, 2014-11-01 07:44

Apparently in later issues Matt will be singing the praises of the Fremantle sardines. I have no problem with this, except the MSC council has them listed as a high risk no eat category because of the risk to the 'flesh footed shearwater'.  Totally missing the point that Fremantle sardines have spent a shitload of money into r&d to stop these things being caught as bycatch.  When Fremantle Sardines wanted to challenge the msc on this point they were told the onus is on you to prove that the process is sustainable.  So what we have is basically a self appointed bunch of knobs arbitrarily deciding that everything is unsustainable until you jump through enough hoops and spend enough cash to prove it.  In the meantime the MSC is out there telling people not to eat your product cutting into your profit while you are supposed to be spending money hand over fist telling them why it is sustainable. 

I reckon if they want to trash commercial operators reputations they should be held accountable for misleading the public and not doing enough due dilligence before publishing this shit.

http://www.sustainableseafood.org.au/fish.php/1/11/australian-sardine

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 that report specifically

Sat, 2014-11-01 11:36

 that report specifically excludes the Fremantle sardine operation and refers only to south coast.

When I was fishing down there (out of Albany) there was NNNOOO shortage of "fleshfooted shearwaters"

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.