Andy Joy

After WWII, my grandfather had a fishing licence and would take me fishing.  I am told that when I was 2 years old I caught my first whiting and was totally wrapped – from then on, I was literally hooked on fishing.  I remember one year I had to play cricket and football for school and was really upset that it meant I couldn’t go fishing with my grandfather.  I loved the ocean, the fish, surfing and snorkelling – and still do.

I fish every week, depending on the weather.  I catch gummy shark, whiting, blue crabs, and squid.  Long line shark fishing is done from a 10-metre fibreglass marine boat and for crabs and marine scale fishing I have a smaller vessel.  I have one crew man who helps with all aspects of the fishing operations.

For blue crabs, I start at 5:30am with everything set to go from the trip before.  To catch crabs I use hoop nets.  The net lays flat and when the rope is retrieved the hoop pulls up into a cone shape and the crabs are caught in the bottom.  I fish throughout the day and finish in the afternoon, in time to have everything packed on ice and taken to Adelaide.  There’s a truck every day, with the catch driving overnight in refrigerated transport.  Sharks are caught under a coastal waters’ permit for Commonwealth shark quota.  When we’re sharking I might fish for a few days and then have a week off.  For shark I use a long line with 400 hooks, about 2.5 miles long.  The hooks are baited and I retrieve the line, bringing the sharks on board as I go.  They’re then trunked, put on ice and ready to go to a fish processor in Adelaide.

I love the rhythm of the ocean, seeing the marine life and the beautiful scenery.  When I have a family, I would love to pass on my fishing legacy to my children and be able to give them a start in the industry.  There’s a lot to be said for experience passed from one generation to the next and knowing the waters you fish and, as fishermen, we’re always learning and improving our fishing ability.

As well as fishing, I am part of the local surfing community and enjoy surfing the waves up and down the Eyre Peninsula coastline.  When I was younger, I worked, surfed and travelled extensively throughout Indonesia and South America.  Unlike here in Australia, some areas are not managed well and overfishing has caused great decimation of reefs.  However, for those areas that do have good management, there are some fantastic reefs and fishing.

Boating and surfing in the Indonesian islands was an incredible experience.  When I was surfing on Sumatra, I would buy mud crabs from fishermen and, from eating in various restaurants, I came up with a recipe, Coconut Chilli Crab, that I cooked for travellers and surfing guests on the boat.  This is my recipe for Coconut Chilli Crab.

Coconut Ginger Chilli infused Blue Crab served with Basmati rice & Garlic butter greens

INGREDENTS:

for a large pot. 4-6 people.
10-15 Blue Crabs
2 cans coconut cream
Ginger, sliced
Fresh red chilli (to taste)
1/4 cup Sweet chilli sauce
6 Bay leaves
Garlic Butter Greens.
Bok Choy with green beens or snow peas.
10 Black pepper corns
Pinch of Sea salt

Method:
Shell and clean crabs, cut into halves and set aside
Add to the pot the coconut cream.  Add water to half fill the pot (sufficient to cover the crabs when added).
Add to the pot the ginger, chopped chilli to taste, bay leaves, pepper corns, salt and chilli sauce, remembering to keep the flavours mild as you are just infusing subtle flavouring throughout the crab meat.
Add the crabs to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
Prepare required amount of Basmati rice or preferred rice type.
Simmer in wok with butter and fresh garlic. Add a small amount of Wiltshire Sauce for a little zest.