FishForBarramundi.com

The Barramundi or Lates Calcarifer if you want to get scientific is one of the most sought after fish species for recreational anglers and commercial fishermen alike. If you have had the delight of catching one or even eating a well prepared Barramundi fillet you will understand the fuss made over it.

This beautiful fish can be found from the Persian Gulf throught to China and south through Asia to the waters of Northern Australia. In Australia the Barramundi can be found north of the Mary and Maroochy Rivers in the east, right around to Shark Bay in the west. There are also several Barramundi farms operating around Australia which supply millions of dollars worth of this fish to both the local and import markets.

As a table fish the Barramundi is said to have no equal and this is certainly true of fish caught in relatively clean estuarine waters. These fish usually have delicious, firm, fine-grained white meat however fish that have spent time in muddy, brackish type water can either have quite tasty meat or something that borders on being inedible.

Barramundi have several distinctive body features. The head of the fish is a pointed shape with the forehead being concave. They have a large jaw that extends behind the eye and courdal fin and a first dorsal fin with seven or eight strong spines. The Barra also has a second soft-rayed dorsal fin that has ten or eleven rays.

Their colouring changes quite dramatically with age and size. A juvenile fish has a distinct white stripe running from the dorsal fin to the snout and is a mottled brown colour. The adult Barramundi are blue to green-grey dorsally, have silvery sides and are white on the bottom.

Some common names of the Barramundi are, obviously Barra, Silver Barramundi, Giant Perch, Palmer Perch and they sometimes incorrectly get called the Nile Perch. The word Barramundi comes from a Queensland Aboriginal language of the Rockhampton area and means large scales or large, scaly river fish. Originally the name referred to the Saratoga and Gulf Saratoga however the name was appropriated for marketing purposes in the 1980’s, a decision that has improved the profile of this fish immensly.