This quiet fishing town on South Australia’s Limestone Coast is Australia’s southern rock lobster capital.
Story By Gretel Sneath
The fishing season runs from October 1 until the end of May, and despite a population of less than 1000, Port MacDonnell is the nation’s southern rock-lobster capital, exporting more than 90 percent of the catch live to China. Generations of father-and-son operators, such as Valdis and Jeremy Ievins, have grown up on the sea. “It’s beautiful here – pretty isolated and remote, and such a great place to live and work,” Jeremy says.
Although an ongoing debate over marine parks worries them, local fishermen point out their commitment to the environment; strict size limits and capped catch rates have long been in place, with South Australia recognised as having one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world. “It’s a wild and rugged stretch of coast, and during winter time it’s that rough that you can’t get out and fish most of the time, so it’s basically a marine park for half of the year anyway,” Jeremy says.
This story excerpt is from Issue #90
Outback Magazine: Aug/Sept 2013
