Glossary

Ocean Trout

One of the newer forms of aquaculture, ocean trout are fantastic eating fish. In Tasmania, these fish are also very well travelled, moved from their fresh-water hatchery to special ocean farms to grow big enough for market. A cross between the rainbow trout and the Canadian steelhead trout, they have a distinctive rosy orange flesh - a delight for any chef. Petuna ocean trout Peter and Una Rockcliff had a commercial fishing business before going into fish farming in 1991 and naming their business after the combination of their first names – Pet and Una. Their trout are hatched at Cressy, south east of Devonport in northern Tasmania, before being sent west to Macquarie Harbour near Strahan on Tasmania’s west coast. There the fish are grown in large floating sea pens in a combination of salt and fresh water. With the species name Oncorhynchus Mykiss, Petuna's trout are from the Pacific Salmon family of trout, also known as rainbow or steelhead trout, or even salmon trout. Although the trout can be farmed in fresh water, ocean trout have more room than freshwater trout and also build up good flesh tone in the strong ocean currents. As Peter and Una’s son Neville says, "This would be one of the best environments in the world for growing ocean trout. We've got beautiful cold water from the mountains from the Gordon river in a world heritage area. We've got a unique situation with a layer of fresh water with quite a lot of tannin which protects the fish from the sunlight. The fish come up when they feed and the salt cleans their gills and keeps them in a pristine condition." The distinctive rosy orange flesh and the high fat content make these an ideal eating fish. They are fed on a special high-protein diet plus some of the smaller fish that find their way into the harbour. The fish are harvested - when they reach three to three and a half kilos. They are sedated in de-oxygenated water, spiked, bled and put in an ice slurry ready for their next journey - across the country again to the processing plant.