producer: Luke Anedda

Two Hands presents Luke Anedda and Neville Clarke to you. 

The Corner Inlet has come to be known as a “World Class” fishery, thanks to hardworking generational fishers like Luke and Neville, running family businesses from Victoria’s last bay and inlet fishery.

Fourth generation fisher Luke Anedda is one of 18 fishers in Corner Inlet. As a true family business, Luke’s fishing is supported by his wife Adonica’s expertise in processing and packing the fish, while his brother and two other loyal employees work as deckhands and maintenance. His ‘semi-retired’ father remains the ‘guru’ behind the fishing gear used in the inlet while his mother handles the business accounts.

“I love being out in nature and around its elements”, Luke says. Having spent time catching fish around Flinders Island and the West coast of Tasmania, Luke knew he wanted to come back to Corner Inlet and carry the family business forward. “Our business is very focused on sustainability and the environment. We pride ourselves on looking after our inlet and minimising our footprint on nature while still providing consumers with beautiful Australian seafood”.

Neville Clarke is a third generation fisher based at Port Franklin, which is one of the three main ports at Corner Inlet. His fishing days go back to when he was a helping hand to his father during school holidays, at the mere age of seven.

“I always took an interest in fishing as my father was a commercial fisherman and grew to love the industry. I love to fish sustainably and supply consumers with high quality fish. I love the challenge of fishing in a wild catch fishery.” Neville’s wife Karen is a partner in the business, assisting him with bookwork and accounting. They also employ one deckhand at present.

The fish at Corner Inlet is caught by a low impact net method, designed by the region’s fishers to ensure better fish quality and reduce environmental impact. With the fish being caught and packed on the same day, the product guarantees freshness and exceptional taste. Each fish is measured and transferred immediately to an ice slurry. This ensures rapid cooling of the product, increasing its shelf life by reducing the release of stress chemicals and slowing the onset of rigor mortis. This care ultimately improves the quality of the product through to restaurants and consumers and also ensures only target species are harvested.

Many fishers like Luke and Neville are also actively involved with landcare groups such as the Yarram Landcare Network, to offset the growing impact of agriculture run-off on seagrass meadows. This work has resulted in successful regeneration of the critical breeding habitat thereby protecting a future for marine species. For more information, click here.