The Fresh Fish Place: With Ron Kandelaars in the West Coast region of South Australia

When navigating the West Coast more than two centuries ago, Matthew Flinders quickly wrote "Bay 10" on his charts. Later he would call it Boston Bay in memory of a seaport back in his home county of Lincolnshire.

Today the massive silos of Port Lincoln are concrete reminders of the role cereal cropping continues to play in the development of this picturesque regional centre at the bottom of Eyre Peninsula.

But out in the bay is a reminder that this is one of the State's great fishing hot spots for the humble amateur and the big money professional. The fish pens point to a rapidly expanding industry - aquaculture. But if you haven't the time to drop a line or tour one of the fish farms call into the Fresh Fish Place on the outskirts of town for a smorgasbord of seafood.

If you want to know what the professionals are catching or farming, then a tour of this facility is a must. Head inside the plant and you'll find the crew shucking shellfish, carving calamari or perhaps sampling shark. The day we visited they were processing 'gummy sharks' the fillets of which are sold to the fish and chip trade as flake and the fins sold to an Asian buyer for shark fin soup. Even the cartilage is bound for the health food market

"They take the cartilage back out to sea and hang it at a secret depth where the sea lice come and eat all the excess flesh. The cartilage is then sent to an outlet in Sydney where it's dried and put into a capsule form and it's sold all over the world as an anti-inflammatory aid to arthritis."

From sand crabs to snapper it's all here and it's all part of a South Australian seafood and aquaculture industry now worth well over $600 million annually.

The Fresh Fish Place is on Proper Bay Road. Just ask for a quick tour of the processing plant. It's one of many stops on the peninsula's Seafood and Aquaculture Trail.

The Fresh Fish Place
20 Proper Bay Road
Port Lincoln

Published 27th April 2008