Australian Fish Photos, Seafood Photographs and Information

Directory & Info for Fishing, Angling, Fishing Tackle, Fishing Guides, Fly Fishing, Bass Fishing, Sports fishing, Game Fishing....
Info on All types of Fishing | Angling | Fishing Tackle etc.

Photos of Australian Seafood, Fish, Crustaceans & Cephalopods and Information on each...

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber - Trepang)

Bream also known as silver bream (NSW, Qld, Vic.); sea bream (NSW, Qld); black bream, surf bream (NSW)

Bream are mostly found in estuaries, but are also found on inshore reefs and coastal waters adjacent to beaches and rocky headlands. They live in rivers upstream to the limit of brackish water, but rarely enter freshwater. Frequently swim in schools.

Bream have a varied diet which includes small crabs, prawns, molluscs such as oysters and pipis and small fish and sometimes green weed.

All three bream species under discussion here are deep-bodied, laterally-compressed fish with moderately large scales, a forked tail and a smallish mouth lined with strong, peg-like teeth. The colouration of each species varies considerably, depending upon it's habitat. Bream living in upper tidal estuaries or land-locked lagoons are often very dark - almost black - on the back and bronze or gold on the flanks. At the opposite extreme, bream taken from the surf, ocean rocks or lower estuaries are usually bright silver. The eastern black bream's pelvic and anal fins are often yellowish to bright yellow. This bream's tail is typically dusky-yellow with a black trailing edge. There is usually a small black blotch at the base of each pectoral fin, and this may also be evident on southern bream at times. In contrast, the pikey bream is generally much darker in hue than either the eastern black or southern variety, and its lips may also be thick and rubbery at times.

The commercial fishery for bream extends from Bundaberg in QLD to Bermagui on the south coast of NSW. Methods of capture include gillnets, haul seines and beach seine nets. Bream is also a by-catch of inshore trawling and trapping. The main fishing methods for commercial fishing in VIC and SA are gillnets and haul seines, and in WA almost all of the commercial catch is taken with gillnets.

Minimum legal size limits apply in all States.

Other Bream Links:

Catching & Fishing for Bream:

The most productive techniques for taking bream in estuaries, bays and harbours are based around the use of light, sensitive tackle and live or fresh baits of marine worms, shellfish, yabbies (nippers), crabs, prawns or small bait fish species. Bream also succumb to an array of less conventional offerings such as bullock's heart, tripe, steak, chicken intestines and various 'pudding' mixtures of flour, water, cheese, tinned sardines and the like. Estuary and river-dwelling bream of all three species are also taken with reasonable consistency on small lures and flies, often by anglers targeting other species such as flathead or tailor. In New South Wales and southern Queensland, surf, rock and inshore boat anglers target eastern black bream using the same range of baits as estuary anglers, as well as whole and cut pilchards, fish fillets, strips and cubes. All three species also respond well to the use of berley.

• Read more about Catching Bream | Fishing for Bream | Bait for Bream

Cooking Bream | Recipes for Bream & Snapper:

Bream is a delicious fish, usually cooked whole. Bream are a much prized and highly rated food fish, although some people would argue they are somewhat over-rated in this department. Bream from lower estuaries, harbours and the open ocean have moist, while flesh with a clean, sweet flavour. Upper estuary or freshwater dwelling fish often exhibit slightly softer flesh, and can have a slightly weedy or muddy taint at times. Recipes for bream & snapper, nutritional information.

Alternative Fish you can use:
Flathead, hussar, morwong, redfish, tarwhine, whiting.

• Read more about Cooking Bream | Recipes for Sea Bream or Snapper

Available mainly wild-caught, though Yellowfin and Black Bream are also farmed. They are found mainly in estuaries, though also along the coast and around rocky reefs, lighter coloured fish are caught at sea, while darker ones are from estuaries and further up river. Black Bream are found around southern Australia, while Frypan and Pikey Bream are found in northern waters. Yellowfin and Tarwhine are found along the eastern coast up to far north Queensland, and Tarwhine is also found along the southern to central coast of WA. Black and Yellowfin Bream are endemic to Australia. Buyers & Sellers of Bream & Pagrus Snapper are listed.

• Read more about Commercial Fishery for Bream (Sparidae) | Buyers, Sellers Bream

Yellowfin Bream