27. Orange Roughy

This photo was taken on a cold morning in July last year at around 6 a.m. It was still dark when I took it, but the sun was about to come up and the cloud formations on the horizon were interesting.

As so often happens, Chris and Oscar were in the shelter near the Shorncliffe Pier when I arrived and Jules had not long joined them there as well. Oscar had a fishing reel in front of him and was showing us a new lure which he had bought and planned to try out later.  He had only learned how to attach this shiny lure to his fishing line on the previous day. My reason for telling you all this is to demonstrate that it was a perfectly peaceful morning for all of us. Just the way we like it. However, this peace was shattered soon thereafter.

Suddenly the birds began to screech, and it was not long before we found out what the commotion was all about. Several bowerbirds and magpies from the surrounding trees were attacking a possum and chasing the poor creature right into our shelter and then back into the trees again.

We all stood to get a better view of the battle taking place right in front of us. It was then that we noticed that there were several other possums around us as well, some on the ground, and the rest in the trees. We’d all been aware for some time, of course, that there were possums living in trees near the pier because a few months ago we’d found a large python in one of these trees with a very noticeable bulge.  This bulge, according to the locals, was a possum which the snake had swallowed.

When the possums eventually managed to escape the birds, and peace had returned, something else captured our attention. Suddenly Oscar pointed to the Bay, saying: “Captain Cook has arrived”! Trust Oscar to succeed in diverting our attention. I’m sorry to disappoint our followers, but it wasn’t old Cook. It was a two-masted yacht which, I’ll admit, did look very interesting to an old seafarer like me.

As we were talking about this mysterious visitor to the Bay, one thing led to another and the focal point of our discussion soon changed and turned to the subject of deep-sea fish, in particular those caught off the coast of New Zealand. The main one of interest for us was the Orange Roughy, also known as Deep Sea Perch, or “Slimehead”.

Oscar used to live near Christchurch, in New Zealand, and he explained to us that the big trawlers there caught large numbers of orange roughy, most of which was exported to China and the USA. They’re an interesting fish because they generally live for 100 to 150 years. One caught off Tasmania was estimated to be 250 years old! They’re said to be the longest-lived commercial fish species. As a result of their long lifespan, however, they contain large amounts of toxins, such as mercury, and so are probably not the healthiest option, if you eat them often.

Another fish species, hoki (also known as blue grenadier, blue hake or whiptail), is also caught by the big trawlers in New Zealand. As Oscar explained, they catch and freeze these fish straightaway and the catch then goes into big containers which are sent to China, where they prepare the fish for sale and send it back to New Zealand again. Hoki is a fast-growing fish and, like the Orange Roughy, it is also exported from New Zealand to Australia and elsewhere.

I think we would all agree that it was an interesting morning for us, with possums in full flight, the ghost of Captain Cook suddenly appearing, and then, “learned talk” about deep-sea fish from New Zealand.

Worth getting up early for!

O.P.

P.S. Next week’s story is about Sandgate’s horse-drawn cabs and an old ferry.