Lessons from foreign fish farms could put Aussie barramundi back on the table

Barramundi fishers such as John Kemeridis are having their best season in decades in the crystal blue waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

But he fears it may not be enough to compete with imports.

The 73-year-old, who has fished the Gulf for almost 50 years, said tightening regulations and rising costs made it hard to bring in the wild catch — at a time when the industry should be thriving.

“There’s no future [for the commercial fishing industry],” he said.

“What am I going to do at my age? All I’ve done is fish.” 

In a bid to keep local seafood on the table, some experts argue that states like Queensland should look to the success of Asia’s aquaculture industry and expand its own barramundi farms.

Mr Kemeridis vehemently opposed the idea, but conceded it might be necessary to encourage more consumers to buy local.

“We’ve got the best industry in the world here … the best quality product; we’ve got everything going for us,” he said.

“Why kill it?”

Local vs wild

Australians consume more than 350,000 tonnes of seafood each year — 65 per cent of which is imported, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

Barramundi accounts for about 25,000 tonnes of that, according to the Australian Barramundi Farmers Association (ABFA), of which it estimates 60 per cent is imported, often at half the wholesale price.

“The problem we face is that consumers understandably think all barramundi is Australian,” ABFA chief executive Jo-Anne Ruscoe told a Senate inquiry into aquaculture in 2021.

“Overseas ‘Asian sea bass’ is commonly used to identify and market the species.”

In South-East Asia, aquaculture farms are scattered across rural and city landscapes, evidence of the rapid expansion of the industry there since the 1990s.

In Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, Asian sea bass is the main commodity for 88 Foods, which supplies both raw filleted and pre-prepared products, like sausages and congee.

Lukas Manomaitis, who provides technical support to 88 Foods and works as the global aquaculture coordinator for the US Soybean Export Council, said it was “hard to compete with Asia”.

“You’re competing against lower costs of production,” he said.

“The benefit for Australia is that you have very experienced people and high-quality standards with regards to hatcheries and production.”

As the wild-caught industry declined in Thailand, Mr Manomaitis said farmed aquaculture’s popularity was skyrocketing.

He believed Australia had the opportunity to follow suit.

“I would suggest to consumers in Australia, don’t focus so much on the farm versus wild if it’s being farmed responsibly [and] sustainably,” he said.

“If consumers really understood the benefits of moving towards farm production, they might be more willing to consider it.”

He said northern Australia’s tropical climate was perfect for year-round barramundi production, particularly in offshore pens, but it was unlikely the industry would produce enough stock to meet demand without relying on international imports.

ABFA’s members produce 96 per cent of the barramundi farmed in Australia, which Ms Ruscoe’s 2021 submission noted was almost exclusively consumed domestically.

“Globally and domestically there is substantial latent demand for a premium white flesh fish,” she said.

“Barramundi can fill this gap if the industry can address its strategic challenges.

“It is unlikely Australia will ever be a major producer in terms of global volumes, but we do have an opportunity to be a world leader in terms of quality, sustainability, reputation for food safety, and freedom from disease.”

Why not both?

In the fishing village of Karumba in North West Queensland, where the Norman River flows into the Gulf, the Les Wilson Barramundi Discovery Centre breeds fish, including barramundi, to educate people about the species.

One of the pioneers of barramundi farming in Australia, centre manager Chris O’Keefe, wants to diversify the hatchery to grow fingerlings that could be used to restock waterways.

He wants the wild-caught and farmed sectors to work together to help both industries compete against imports sustainably.

“We can’t just keep taking from the wild, but we also can’t just rely on all farmed fish because there are two markets there,” Mr O’Keefe said.

“And that’s our breeding stock, that’s also what people want to catch.”

The centre’s hatchery technician Dave Hammann was previously a commercial fisherman in Karumba.

He believed farmed barramundi would be fundamental to developing the aquaculture industry.

“The difference in the industry is farmed barramundi is more accessible all year round,” he said.

Despite this, he still preferred the taste of wild-caught fish.

“Wild-caught is naturally in the salt all the time, not muddy ponds,” Mr Hammann said.

In comparison to South-East Asian countries, Mr O’Keefe said the Queensland government’s sustainability, quality policies, and regulations meant consumers could have confidence that locally farmed fish met high standards.

“In Australia, we have a lot of rules that govern how we drill those fish and what we can use and what chemicals or antibiotics we can’t use,” Mr O’Keefe said.

“We can actually use it to help keep the condition of the fish in a better, healthy lifestyle.”

He said cheaper imports from countries with fewer regulations hurt the industry.

“It needs to be a level playing field … otherwise, we’re really handicapping our own farmers,” Mr O’Keefe said.