Barramundi

[Harcourt]

I was reading a thread, which I have lost now, where someone mentioned that they had experimented with barramundi.....

How long have barra been in Thai? How where they brought in?.... has there ever been any concern, official or otherwise, about the ecological effect if these fish escape to the wild?

Personally, I would love it if there was a fresh water game fish to be found in rivers and lakes, however the impact of an exotic breed on native species is a concern.

But, if the barra are already in Thailand....where are they, let me at 'em!

[waisingranker]

Barramundi are native to Thailand. They have a fairly wide range from North Australia to India. Best bet to catch a wild fish would be in the mangrove areas north of Phuket. There is a nice photo in the fishing shop at Chumpon of a nice 10+ kilo barra caught on the Lomprayah pier at Thung Makham noi.

A more serious concern would be if they are raising Nile Perch here. Escapees could be in direct competition with barra.

[Harcourt]

Yeah, wow. I just saw a thread in the fishing section that mentions barra at those farms where you pay to go fishing.

I didn't realise their international range..... I thought they were unique to Oz. Cool!

I will go and Google... interested to see if there are sub-species regionally unique; I'm sure the Ozzy barra get bigger than 10 kg quite often.

Potential new farming species?

[MudDoc]

Barra can be bought here from a fish farm near Kabin Buri. Nam Sai Farms is the place with a web site of www.tilapiathai.com then just go to the products section. Not sure if you can buy fully grown Barra ready to eat, but found this when researching Nile Tilapia for my ponds. Sorry the link appears it didn't work, just copy and paste and hit enter.

Edited June 28, 2009 by MudDoc

[Harcourt]

And from the sponsored ads at the top of the thread.... http://www.thebetterfish.com/

[allcladrad]

I bought mine from the government. They requested a sample of my water to determine the amount of salt and started the fry off accordingly. We caught a 3 year old that measured 27" so they grow quite fast.

[Harcourt]

Ahhh, ok. So the degree of salinity is ok, as long as it is consistant from hatching?

[Aardvark]

Ahhh, ok. So the degree of salinity is ok, as long as it is consistant from hatching?

The Thai Fish are a Greyish colour and have a muddy flavour to them, where the Aussie Fish have a White flesh with distinctive purple stripes going through it, and of course the flavour is superb !!

[allcladrad]

I think the water has an effect on the color and taste, my freshwater ones are as you describe, locals use sea or brackish water and the color and taste change accordingly. You can probably factor in what they eat as well.

[cardholder]

Ahhh, ok. So the degree of salinity is ok, as long as it is consistant from hatching?

The Thai Fish are a Greyish colour and have a muddy flavour to them, where the Aussie Fish have a White flesh with distinctive purple stripes going through it, and of course the flavour is superb !!

With apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I have 2 questions:-

1) Are barramundi the same as what I know as sea bass in Europe ?

2) What gives the fish that 'muddy' taste and can you do anything to change it?