The future of the wild-caught barramundi is uncertain, with a number of groups calling for bans on the use of gill nets.Restrictions have been placed on the commercial sector and the industry is being reviewed.
"People want quality, they're prepared to pay for it, and they're definitely prepared to pay for local."For decades, the commercial fishing sector in northern Australia has used gill nets — long rectangular nets placed near river mouths — to catch barramundi.The Australian Marine Conservation Society has called for a phase-out of the use of gill nets to protect threatened species.
"It's not just the generations of commercial fishers that are fighting for their futures, it's the future of the young people who are coming up through those families."The NT's commercial catch has been on a steady decline over the past decade, with the sector harvesting 160 tonnes in the eight-month 2023 season, down from 435 tonnes in the 2013 season.
NT Fisheries said the reduction in commercial catch reflected the diminishing fishing grounds available to the commercial sector rather than a barramundi population decline. "It's prices unheard-of before for barramundi, but as I said to the chefs, it's fish of a quality that you've never seen before," he said.