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Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber - Trepang)

The Eastern Rock Lobster is also known as crayfish (NSW, Vic.); rocklobster (Vic.); eastern crayfish, green lobster, marine lobster, pack-horse rocklobster

Found only along the coast of New South Wales.

Caught in crayfish pots on the Continental shelf and close inshore. 

Very good eating

Did you know?
Crayfish can crawl forward at a very slow and awkward pace but can swim backwards extremely fast to get away from predators. Their spines point  forwards to make them more streamlined for swimming and harder to grab by  predators.

Fishing for Eastern Rock Lobster:

Cooking Eastern Rock Lobster:

Rocklobsters are highly sought after and therefore often highly priced. Price is usually a reflection of available supply, not quality. However, export grade rocklobster is always of high quality and high price.

Rocklobster flesh is firm, with a sweet medium and rich taste; it retains its shape in most styles of cooking.

Poached, baked or barbecued, grilled, steamed, or sliced for sashimi, rock-lobsters make an excellent seafood dish. However, guard against over-cooking or the meat will become tough and leathery. Rocklobsters have excellent presentation potential, so take care not to damage the legs and head.

Traditional sauces to accompany rocklobster are thermidor and New-burg, but suggestions for other complementary tastes abound. Try sweet corn, citrus fruits, chillies, tarragon butter sauces, garlic and white wine, or coconut mild curries, or combine in quenelles and mousselines. Prepare as a bisque or serve in a salad with other seafood, or on its own with fresh green peppercorns and char-grilled pineapple.

If cooking rocklobster in liquid, try a court bouillon instead of water.

How to humanely kill a Lobster for cooking:
It is recommended that all crustaceans are immersed in a salt water/ice slurry for a minimum of 20 minutes before boiling, broiling, pithing or cutting. This ensures the animal is immobilised before procedures that may cause pain are carried out.

The salt water/ice slurry is made by first filling a suitable container (such as an esky) with normal crushed ice, then adding salt water (sea water salinity). The ratio of normal ice to salt water should be 3:1, which will give the consistency of wet concrete and a temperature of –1°C. It is important that enough ice is provided to maintain the temperature of the slurry.

Lobster Risotto with Vanilla Bean Oil	Tetsuya's Roasted Tasmanian Crayfish	Boiled Lobster & Scallops	King Crab Cake Stuffed Lobster Tails

How to prepare Rock Lobsters
Sydney Fish Market takes you through the different kinds of Rocklobsters available in retail, what to look for when purchasing and how to prepare them for cooking and eating.

Wild Caught

Recovery Rate
Flesh: 35% of total weight, Tail meat: 33% of total weight, sometimes up to 42%
Large rocklobsters have massive bodies and yield proportionally less meat in the tail.

Rock Lobster Commercial Fishing Data for 2010 / 2011 (Australia)
In 2009–10, the value of rock lobster production decreased by 11 per cent ($46 million) to
$368.8 million, following a 21 per cent decrease in the volume of rock lobster production.
Rock lobsters are caught mainly in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.
In 2009–10, rock lobster production decreased by 2575 tonnes to 9628 tonnes as a result
of lower production in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, which collectively
accounted for 91 per cent of the Australian total volume of rock lobster production. The
decline was mainly attributable to the significant decreases in production in Western Australia
and South Australia. In 2009–10, rock lobster production from these two states combined fell
by 21 per cent (1946 tonnes) from 2008–09 to a total of 7501 tonnes.

Western Australian rock lobster has historically accounted for a larger share (about 60 per cent
on average) of the total value of Australian rock lobster production, while southern Australian
rock lobster generally accounted for over 30 per cent. However, since 2003–04, the relative
share of western rock lobster in value terms has declined compared with southern rock lobster.
The share of western rock lobster in value terms fell from 65 per cent in 2003–04 to 50 per cent
in 2009–10. In contrast, the share in value terms of southern rock lobster increased from
30 per cent to 45 per cent over the same period.

Between 2008–09 and 2009–10, catches of both species declined. Although western rock
lobster catch fell by 22 per cent (1690 tonnes), its value of production fell by only 4 per cent
because of a 23 per cent increase in the average beach price. Southern rock lobster catch
fell by a lesser amount, 365 tonnes (10 per cent). Combined with a 4 per cent decrease in its
average beach price, this resulted in the value of southern rock lobster production falling
by 14 per cent ($26.2 million) in 2009–10. Production of southern rock lobster and western
rock lobster contributed $165.5 million and $184.1 million, respectively, to the total value of
Australian rock lobster production in 2009–10.

More links about Eastern Rock Lobster and Rock Lobster Information

See Also Commercial Fishing suppliers and buyers of:  Lobster  |  European Lobster  |  Homarus Lobster  |  Maine Lobster  |  Tropical Lobster  |  Rock Lobster  |  Slipper Lobster  |  Spiny Lobster  |  Western Rock Lobster 

Australian Government - Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (PDF file) - Australian Fisheries Statistics 2010/2011