Australia Weather News

Consecutive poor wet seasons in north-west Queensland appear to have affected barramundi catches in the Gulf of Carpentaria, with a number of commercial vessels currently docked in Karumba because it is not worth fishing.

Fisherman Jeff Newman has returned to port and said it has been one of the toughest years for fishing he'd seen in at least a decade.

"My vessel is back in port, tied up and it's not worth being out there at the moment," he said.

"Fish catches have been down dramatically compared to an average year, so it's very poor and it's not just the barramundi fishery, it's right across the banana prawn fishery, the crab fishery, and it's all basically due to the lack of [wet season] rain we've had over the last three seasons."

Mr Newman said there were several barramundi boats tied up in Karumba, with crews expecting to wait weeks before returning to sea.

"My plan at the moment is to have a few weeks off, do some maintenance, have a break, and hopefully go back towards the end of the season and hopefully the fish have improved," he said.

"It's tough, I think it's maybe 10 or 12 years since I've seen it this poor."

Reports from fishermen in the Northern Territory suggest barramundi catches have been strong in waters west of Darwin and fairly reasonable along the north Arnhem Land coastline, but definitely poor in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The north's commercial barramundi season ends on September 30.