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The
domestic eel market is growing, but it is the Asian market
that keeps the company ‘on its toes’. Mr Elton said,
“The export demand will always exceed the supply.
While the Australian smoked eel market is growing all the
time you couldn’t make a living out of it. But Asia is
just phenomenal. We could never fill the live,
long-finned eel market. It is just not profitable for
short-finned eels anymore”.
East
Coast Eels has changed its catch from short-finned to
long-finned (although they still catch a small amount of
short-finned for smoking). While the two breeds of eels
taste similar, their looks set them apart, which counts, Mr
Elton said, “Appearance is so important in China”. The
long-finned eel season runs from September till May, and
during that time East Coast can export up to 650kg of live
long-fin eels a week.
|
(Photo - G. Blackman - GAIN) |
Once the
catch is sorted the eels are transported back to the
factory in aerated tanks. The eels are purged for a
week in tanks before being processed. |
Mr Elton
said, “From when the long-finned eels are packed into boxes
it is only 26 hours until they reach China. They will last
up to 35 hours in transport”. To survive the trip the eels
are chilled to slow their heart beat, placed in a plastic
bag with a cup of water and oxygen and scaled in a cardboard
carton.
| The factory
also has a smokehouse and a 12-tonne reticulation system
where the young eels are farmed before being smoked,
released or sold. |
(Photo - W. Key - GAIN) |
Australian eels breed in the Coral Sea. The young eels
begin their journey to inland estuaries which can take up to
2 years. They migrate to the Coral Sea to breed when they
are around 16 years old. In the wild only 1% of eels grow
to adult size, but part of Mr Elton’s fishing permit
requires him to release 10% of his annual catch which has a
90% survival rate.
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