Stanley in the northwest of Tasmania is known not only for its well preserved historic colonial buildings or the rock mound known as the Nut, it is also home to a small fleet of bright red Crayfish boats.

The fleet is the backbone of the Hursey family business, which supplies wholesale seafoods as well as fresh seafood for the Hursey restaurant, take-away and fish shop. Catches include Southern Rock Lobster (Crayfish), Giant Crab, Stripey Trumpeter, Gummy Shark, Flathead and other local reef fish. The crayfish are kept live in seawater tanks ensuring supply is available year round.

Remembering a Tragedy

In 1974 James and Valerie Hursey moved to Stanley from Dover, southeast Tasmania. In 1987, to complement the growing fishing fleet, they built the commercial factory, takeaway and dining restaurant in memory of their son, Patrick, who was tragically lost at sea while attempting to rescue an adventurer rowing across Bass Strait. Today their restaurant stands on Wharf Street opposite the harbour where the Hursey’s crayfish boats can often be seen.

The Taste Test

You cannot come to this part of the world and not experience fresh crayfish, and we weren’t going to let this opportunity pass by. We had booked a table for the evening and were quickly served drinks while we decided on which of the cooking styles we would prefer; with garlic butter, saltbush butter, mornay or natural (cold) with seafood sauce. Having not tried saltbush before it was a brave decision but it was absolutely delicious even if we did have to wait an hour for our meals to be served. Just one slight issue, the restaurant had run out of potatoes to serve with the crayfish. Really? On an island that is a huge exporter of the vegetable? So, frozen french fries with veggies it was.

If you take the opportunity while in Stanley, as we did, remember the crayfish here are big. A half-large size would fill any hungry stomach.