Fremantle Octopus

Fremantle Octopus is an Australian octopus fishery business based in Fremantle, Western Australia.^[1][2][3][4] It was founded by former rock lobster fishermen Ros and Craig Cammilleri.^[1][2]

Fremantle Octopus

Industry	Fishing
Founder	Craig Cammilleri, Ross Cammilleri
Headquarters	Fremantle, Western Australia
Key people	Glenn Wheeler (managing director)
Products	Octopus
Website	https://www.fremantleoctopus.cm.au/

The company catches and processes Octopus djinda.^{[1][5][Note 1]} The species of octopus is regarded as having a relatively high grade based on size, texture, and taste; thought in part to be a result of its natural diet in the local environment.^[1] Products made by the fishery include frozen raw tentacles, steamed tentacles, and marinated octopus.^[1]

The business processes octopus catch from various independently owned boats, and has a processing plant in the suburb of O'Connor.^[1] The business' founder Craig Cammilleri has been credited as the inventor of the 'octopus trigger trap', a method for catching octopus that uses a plastic grab with an in-built LED light to lure octopus.^[6] Baby octopus and fish are not strong enough to trigger the trap.^[1]

The business operates in a fishery with Marine Stewardship Council certification, one of only two octopus fisheries in the world where that is the case.^[7] The total catch of Octopus djinda in WA is around 300 tonnes per year, of which Fremantle Octopus processes around 70%.^[5] Estimates have placed the sustainable catch rate for the fishery at around 1-2 thousand tonnes per year.^[1] Prior to being a valuable commodity, octopus were an annoyance for rock lobster fisherman as a predator of their catch.^[8]

Around 80% of the fishery's catch is sold domestically in Australia, with 20% exported to foreign markets including the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai.^[1] In 2019 the business expanded its exports to the Chinese market.^[9]

In 2017 the company explored a float on the ASX.^[3]

Notes

1. Sources from 2018 state that the species caught is named Octopus tetricus. Octopus from southwest Australia was once regarded as being conspecific to tetricus; however in 2021 it was reclassified as a separate species; Octopus djinda