SOUTHERN CALAMARI

HABITAT
Happy Fish Southern Calamari is wild caught in Corner Inlet, South Gippsland Victoria. This is one of the most pristine industry-free estuaries in Victoria, surrounded by national parks and dairy farms. The Inlet is made up of a series of islands, channels, and banks which are mostly covered by seagrass.

HABITS
Masterful shape–shifters Calamari change colours and patterns in milliseconds to match the surrounding habitat. By chemically generating their own light they bioluminesce. This helps them find food, entice prey, impress mates, startle predators and communicate with one another.
A voracious appetite for food and sex makes good use of Calamari’s short 2 or so year lifespan. Males stage elaborate, aggressive and sneaky courtship rituals, impressing females with spectacular colour changes, light shows and fighting off rivals. Growing and reproducing as rapidly as they do, makes this a more sustainable species
Jet-propulsion is generated by squeezing large volumes of water through a tube under their heads for fast bursts of acceleration and flying through the air.
Considered the most intelligent of the invertebrates, they are social beings and like to swim in small schools or even hanging with schooling fish.
Fast and aggressive predators they feed mostly on small fish and crustaceans. Bigger Calamari eat the little ones. As a large proportion of fin fish have been decimated globally, Calamari is playing an increasingly important role, previously dominated by fin fish, as a top predator in ocean ecosystems.

HARVEST
Our Corner Inlet fishers use seine nets and abide by their own sustainable voluntary code of practice, restricting themselves to a maximum of 2 seine net “shots” per day. These fishers are careful of all the fish caught, releasing juveniles and unwanted species in the best possible condition so they can swim away unharmed. Environmental impacts of harvest methods is largely about HOW the nets are used.

HANDLING
Harvested with care and iced immediately ensures the Calamari is rendered unconscious in seconds. This reduces stress and lactic acid, and maintains glucose in the flesh, enhancing taste, texture, tenderness and shelf life.