Tunas are the new products on the market and probably one of the most unusual marine experiences in Australia. It is no denying fact that Port Lincoln is home to Australia’s outrageously lucrative southern bluefin tuna fishery. Tuna fishermen go out to sea, net their bounty and drag the fish back to pens off Port Lincoln to fatten for the Japanese market – the tuna’s marbled flesh makes incredible sashimi.
According to a fisherman tuna are muscular fish that can swim in bursts of up to 70kmh, which is a little scary. They have excellent eyesight and won’t touch you. Geographically the Eyre Peninsula is the triangle of land that forms South Australia’s part of the Great Australian Bight. The abundant millionaires here make the seafood capital of Australia an odd mix. There’s farming as well as fish and the holy grail of tuna is sold direct to the Japanese so it’s not widely available beyond Port Lincoln.
According to the fishermen in olden days the tuna industry was full of too many hot-headed Croatians fighting over too few tuna. There were pub brawls, gunfights even. It was back-breaking, dangerous work and sometimes boats went missing without trace. A sculpture on the marina marks the death of 48 fishermen over the decades.
It is true that Australian fishermen are keener to go for tuna fishing as it fetched them good money due to its increasing demand domestically and globally. And this has made the Eyre Peninsula and Port Lincoln the most sought after tuna fishing areas in Australia.
