West Australian company eyes exporting wild NT barra

West Australian company eyes exporting wild-caught NT barra

by | Sep 15, 2020 | News | 0 comments

A West Australian fishing company has plans to open an export market after buying eight of the NT’s 14 commercial barramundi fishing licences, according to a media report.

Wild Barra Fisheries based in Perth now owns a major stake in the NT barramundi industry after only registering the business in May 2019.

The company’s manager of policy and environment, Geoff Diver told the ABC started with buying just one licence but now have eight, with NT Government saying there are 14 licences in total.

There are 300 to 600 tonnes of barramundi caught commercially in the NT annually, and Mr Diver said to the ABC he feels confident and has big plans.

“We didn’t intend on having a major holding, but as we were approached by other fishers we ended up building the asset base quite quickly, but somewhat unexpectedly,” Mr Diver told the ABC.

“We’re currently working with the NT Government and Commonwealth Government to get the fishery accredited to open up an export market, which should have economic benefits for the wider NT community,” he said.

“We’ve already had some good levels of interest from South-East Asia… The barramundi is not just an icon in the NT, but internationally it’s quite well known.”

“And the fishery itself is in a healthy spot. Between the commercial and recreational sectors only about 4 per cent of the biomass of the fish is accessed, so ecologically it’s quite strong.”

NT Seafood Council chief executive, Katherine Winchester said there was “substantial market potential” in NT barramundi and the Wild Barra Fisheries investment in the fishery was substantial.

The company sells barramundi and king threadfin salmon, and has 20 trained staff and three equipped vessels according to their website.

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