A day in Geraldton

11th July 2014

Our first stop today was at a rock lobster co-operative to see how the process works. John was hoping to get a free sample but alas, at $96 per kilo they were not handing any out.  In fact there were very few lobsters being processed as WA has moved from season based catches to a quota and most fisherman have reached it for the month. Enormous quantities of the crustacean are caught each year and 97% of them are sold overseas.  Most are shipped live to Asia within 30 hours of being caught with a few going to the US and Europe.  The lobsters vary in colour from almost white to red and the flesh reflects this colour.

On the fisherman's wharf there are two boats which have been seized by customs off Geraldton in the last year or so.  One of them is a fishing boat which contained over 60 illegal would be illegal immigrants.  The boat had been provided by the German Deutsche bank to Aceh following the 2004 tsunami to help get the local fisherman back to work. Sadly, some of them decided there was more profit in people smuggling.

People smuggling boat from Aceh

Boat used to smuggle cocaine

The other boat was masquerading as a fishing boat when in fact it was carrying an enormous quantity of cocaine.  Looking at the state of the hull I am suprised it was even seaworthy.  This boat is now a costly problem for the WA government as it has to dispose of the hulk.

After lunch at the beach, where a cormorant kindly posed, we spent the rest of the day in the Geraldton Regional Museum which was very interesting.

Local resident