Fresh out of fish

IT'S like the pub with no beer but worse - the Territory is running out of barra.

Mr Barra

IT'S like the pub with no beer but worse - the Territory is running out of barra.

The rivers of fish have run dry in Australia's barramundi capital and Territory restaurants are being forced to sell imported stock - or take it off the menu.

The barramundi fishing season closes from October to January while fish are busy spawning in salty river mouths.

In most years, enough are caught during the season to tide the industry over.

But not this year.

"It's never been this bad," said Niall Atkinson, owner of Darwin seafood wholesaler Mr Barra.

Mr Atkinson said all fishos had struggled.

"There was no rain last year," he said.

He said barra stocks usually got lower around January or February but were made up from other suppliers in Queensland - but this year everyone had a bad year.

Fishing closures didn't help, he said.

The NT Government locked commercial barramundi fishos out of Chambers and Finke bay in February, giving recreational anglers and tourism operators exclusive access to the area.

The closure included the northern section of Fog Bay on the Dundee coast and all of Adams Bay at the mouth of the Adelaide River.

Mr Atkinson said he had a little bit of wild-caught barra left for retail - but not enough to supply restaurants.

Darwin Ski Club caterer Mitchell Smart said his restaurant refused to use imported fish and has replaced the Territory icon with jewfish for now.

Mr Smart said it was difficult sourcing local barra even from the Humpty Doo Barramundi Farm.

"They've got bugger all as well," he said.

Part-owner of the farm Bob Richards said they had experienced an increase in demand but had to be careful to ration out stocks to keep a steady supply available for all their customers.

And harvesting has to stay steady to be sustainable.

"It's continuous farming - you can't just catch all your fish in one week," he said.