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0011 IItt TTastesastes BBetteretter TTextext SSI.inddI.indd 117070 33/03/10/03/10 22:24:24 PPMM 171 The Edmunds Family’s King George Whiting and Abalone One day when I was wondering aloud about who catches the delicate and succulent King George whiting we cook at Billy Kwong, my fi sh supplier told me to get in touch with the Edmunds family in South Australia. Several months later, in the charming town of Streaky Bay (population 2000), I fi nally met brothers Damon and Dion Edmunds, who took over the family abalone business more than 20 years ago and expanded it to include other fi sh. Dion manages the export side of the business, while Damon oversees the processing and administration, as well as domestic sales. The bay is excellent for fi shing because it’s open to the cold waters of the Bight yet protected from extremes of weather. Its remoteness means the waters are clean, and its estuaries provide breeding grounds for fi sh and prawns, as well as a dozen oyster leases. With major tuna, rock lobster, abalone and prawn fi sheries as well, it is a very rich fi shery. The lesson of sustainability has been hard-won in these parts. In the 1980s, three experimental licences for blue swimmer crabs were granted, each allowing 60 pots, and the fi shery was almost wiped out because they took the breeding females. It took 15 years for the crab stocks to recover; now they can catch blue swimmers again – although only with hoop and drop nets. The lesson has been taken to heart, and in recent years measures have been taken to protect fi sh stocks, such as mandating line-catching of fi sh and merging licences through a two-for-one buyback scheme. This means there are now fewer fi shermen, but those there are make a decent living. Fish heads and other bits that would otherwise be discarded are recycled for use as bait; the oyster farmers also sell bags of the detritus (including worms) that they scrape off the oyster shells for use as bait. Damon and Dion regularly buy fi sh from 12 fi shermen, who concentrate mainly on shark, snapper, whiting and calamari, because that’s where the money is. Most fi sh during the day for up to 12 hours, depending on the weather, but if they are after shark or snapper they will go out overnight. Much of the garfi sh is caught by one specialist SEAFOOD 0011 IItt TTastesastes BBetteretter TTextext SSI.inddI.indd 117171 118/02/108/02/10 11:03:03 PPMM 172 fi sherman: the best catches are to be had at night during the full moon – the fi sh are lured to the surface with a torch and then hauled into the fl at-bottomed boat using a cylindrical dab net. All the fi sh go straight into an ice slurry on the boat to keep them in good condition. Any destined for Sydney are packed with ice in foam boxes and leave that same day by road for Adelaide, before fl ying to Sydney to reach the markets less than 24 hours after they left the water. Their two best fi shermen, Spanner and Bobo, bring in amazing catches and will even fi sh to order. ‘Wayne from Christie’s might ring up and say, “I need calamari and sashimi- grade whiting for such and such,” and Spanner or Bobo will usually help me out.’ I know when I desperately want King George whiting for a special event, I get straight on the phone to Wayne, who then calls Damon. I love that service, ‘The fi sheries are managed very well it’s like having your own King George whiting fi sherman – now . especially since they’ve fi nally and literally catching the fi sh to order is also very sustainable. taken out all the net-fi shing, a lot of The Edmunds family process about 10 tonnes of whiting the bay is really recovering.’ fi llets a year, as well as snapper, garfi sh, calamari and blue swimmer crab. Filleted fi sh are the most profi table part of their business, with 60 per cent sold locally and in Adelaide, some 30 per cent going to Sydney and 10 per cent to Melbourne. Whole fresh fi sh, which we use at Billy Kwong, represents less than a tenth of their turnover. Because this side of the business only just covers costs, whole fi sh isn’t always available – but whenever we can get our hands on their delectable King George whiting, we do. With its long slender body and nose, it is such an elegant, refi ned-looking fi sh, with a delicate texture and incomparable purity of fl avour – I love serving it sashimi-style or as a ceviche, to make the most of these qualities. The brothers’ parents were instrumental in establishing the local abalone industry: Cliff did the diving, and Pam did the processing and selling at markets. When Cliff bought his fi rst abalone licence in the mid-1960s, he got it for £5; these days they cost $8 million, plus an annual fee of $76 000. Damon and Dion now hold two abalone licences themselves and three other licensees also supply them with abalone. Each licensee has a quota of 8 tonnes of abalone meat a year (not including shells), with size restrictions – abalone must be a minimum of 13 centimetres across before they can be harvested. Diving for abalone is only viable on fi ne days, which can mean long days in summer of up to 8 or 9 hours, with divers being protected from sharks by a cage. The catch is about half green-lip and half black-lip abalone – the black-lip variety is quite common throughout the world, but the green-lip is found only in southern Australian waters, making it highly sought after. The bulk of their abalone sells to China, though some goes to Sydney. Green-lip abalone is quick-frozen, while the black-lip is mostly canned. The abalone season runs from January to March, and during that time they send a shipment to Hong Kong each fortnight, with demand peaking around Chinese New Year. Damon and Dion Edmunds show off Streaky Bay’s snapper, blue swimmer crabs, green-lip abalone and King George whiting SEAFOOD 0011 IItt TTastesastes BBetteretter TTextext SSI.inddI.indd 117272 118/02/108/02/10 11:03:03 PPMM 173 SEAFOOD 0011 IItt TTastesastes BBetteretter TTextext SSI.inddI.indd 117373 118/02/108/02/10 11:03:03 PPMM.