Razorfish

Razorfish are a shellfish, or a marine bivalve mollusc to be correct, that live in the sand and mud flats in tidal areas in Southern Australia. They are a large, fan shaped shellfish that lay buried in the sand point first. This leaves the large curved edge of the shell exposed. This edge is quite sharp and has been responsible for many cuts and scrapes of those collecting the shells. Hence the name.

A decade ago, razor fish could be found in numbers right along metropolitan coasts (in suitable habitat) as they were used by only a few fisherman as bait. Now, however, some areas are totally devoid of them now and this is due to the fact that their potential as an extremely tasty seafood dish has been realised.

The shells are fairly well embedded, so it is necessary to bend over, grab the shell and wiggle it from side to side, all the while pulling up. 

Once you have collected enough shells, they have to be cracked open and the white “heart” of the fish removed. This is also hard work. The easiest method is to break each shell with the back of a meat cleaver then slip a thin but sturdy knife blade under the shell, keeping it as close to the underside of the shell as possible. If you are doing this correctly, the remains of the shell will open up easily. The insides surrounding the “heart” can then be removed which will leave just the white muscle still attached to one side of the shell. You should have a roughly round piece of white flesh. Depending on the size of the razor fish, this should be about 5 cm or 2 inches across. 

Eaten raw, shallow fried, deep fried or grilled, this flesh is superb. Like scallops only tastier, razorfish, in our opinion, are at least rivals to prawns and calamari. The flesh is firm and white and, if cooked correctly, is tender. 

Our favourite way to eat razorfish is to combine them with some finely sliced fresh squid, cook them for less than a minute with chili and garlic and add them to a fine spaghetti … yummy.

Blue Swimmer Crabs

This was a bumper year for blue swimmer crabs at Stansbury. We were reasonably successful using our usual technique of baiting up our nets and catching them the odd one or two at a time. we did have an interesting experience one day when we spotted a beautiful and large crab on our way out to the end of the jetty in very shallow water … so the hunt was on. A skilled throw of the crab net followed by a tense wait for the crab to crawl in and a perfectly timed retrieval and the result was a nice large fresh crab for lunch.

But that wasn’t the best experience with the crabs. We met a fellow caravanner who introduced us to night hunting with a light and a rake. This was one of the most exhilarating and enjoyable ways to get a good catch of crabs. You need a light (our friend had special lights that worked under water) but a good torch works just as well, a rake and a floating plastic receptacle for the catch. You then wait for dark and high tide, wade out (only up to the knees), turn on the light and the chase is on. The hardest part is using the rake to drag them towards you and then expertly flip them on to their backs and into the floating box. It gets really interesting if you miss one and it then starts swimming about furiously sometimes requiring an athletic leap out of the water to avoid a nasty nip.

Stansbury

Stansbury is located on the south eastern corner of the Yorke Peninsula. It is definitely one of our goto destinations. This will be our 4th time here. The main reasons we like it here is the access to 3 of our favourite seafood species – blue swimmer crabs, squid and razor fish. Separate stories follow detailing our blue swimmer and razor fish exploits but here are the other photos of Stansbury … as an aside Siobhan won the squid comp 3 to 2.

Edithburgh

Still on the Yorke Peninsula which is shaped very much like Italy, ie a boot. Edithburgh is situated on the heel of the peninsula. Again we find our caravan site situated very close to the ocean and a short walk to the jetty for fishing. However, the weather is still against us and the fishing is still not brilliant but we do finally snag our first whiting. Perhaps the close proximity of one of the largest wind farms in Australia should have given us a clue about the possibility of it being quite windy in the area ! Edithburgh is also a great base to explore the beautiful and scenic south east coast of the Yorke Peninsula.

Moonta Bay

Moonta Bay is located in the Copper Coast region of the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. We have been to the area before but then stayed at nearby Port Hughes. The caravan park could not have been better situated for the beach and the jetty – that is the good news. The bad news – there had been a recent flood and the local sand flies and midges had used the opportunity to multiply in their millions. Bob ended up looking like he had chickenpox. Siobhan did not get bitten once.

The weather is still not real good, cold and windy. We do manage to catch a few blue swimmer crabs – yummy.