Watch A Shore Thing

This is when a taboo on fishing ends and the village take to the water. Circular netting and lots of big sticks are used to make the catch. The fish look like aquarium escapees as they are driven into human pens across the coral reef. If this seems unusual they then bury the fish, (a lovu) wrapped in banana leaves and volcanic rocks with lots of goodies. Fishing and cooking doesn't get more fun than this.

What they don't sell to market or direct to restaurants they use as bait for someof the largest flat fish known to man. Not even a paella dish will carry these floppy giants. With lock-ins a prerequisite for early morning fishing you know the cooking is going to be fishy but more fun than food should ever be!

Senna, unemployed and unassuming, fishes off the edge of the protected marine reef. It's half work, half recreation, and Senna is highly skilled at fly-fishing. Using a Pithia (native branch) as the rod and weed plucked from the reef, the Paramuva (silver mullet) bite timidly, but once hooked it's a fight; never mind the razor coral and crashing waves. If the endorphins aren't flowing the quickly bled and boiled fish mixed with backyard curry leaves will sort you out.

In this episode of A Shore Thing, follow the culinary journey from port to plate. Mark catches a rich combination of seafood and Ben cooks it up in a traditional 'star gazey pie', the boys snack on spider crab in the Cornish sunshine and explore the county's rich maritime history.

But there's no crying for anyone when the big fish are on! Ailin, the local schoolteacher is set on proving her dammed river is still a source to be reckoned with! Water walking dourado and man size catfish lurk here at the base of one of the largest hydroelectric dams. It even has its very own fish elevator. Imaginations run wild and for dessert its alien fish pasties and open arms.

Dave enjoys not only eating them but also catching them - fat eels, returning to the coast to spawn up the Thames. Using hi tech "slingshot" tackle, he makes it all look easy. The hard part is catching the bait- live crabs under groins. Only for the masochistic, and so is the meal. Boiled eel in green liqueur and jellied eel from the fridge needs no explanation. The secret in English cuisine is the salt - Not for the queasy!

Tackle shop owner, Preecher, shows his mates some stiff & dangerous competition. The rage is all lures, trawling behind an 8-cylinder canoe and landing meter long, angry barracuda & African Pompano. Its all bravado & glory but who cares when it ends up as Tom yum prad, (fish soup) bubbling with lemongrass and chillies. Away from the big money, Gotlam hangs out in a stilt kitchen where you can check the tide underneath you. He chases Mengdas, a prehistoric crab, like a squashed armadillo. You only eat their eggs as they're poisonous if cooked incorrectly - and they taste like they look!

We see him potter along the shoreline with a cane pole and chicken gut. He's usually up to his waist in surf & surrounded by rocks and that's where he hunts up to 30-kilo Conga eels. They can break your arm with their body whilst dicing up your fingers with their teeth. They are also the essential ingredients for an authentic Caldirada, (the Portuguese Bouillabaisse). Cooked in a witch's pot on an open fire for up to several days. Its got lots of surprises, some of which you are sure to smell later.

Straight out of Hemingway, this macho backwater has more whales and assorted marine life than the entire gulf. The fishing is basic, hook, lead and squid. The catch is plentiful pescada blanco (white fish) and pescada a puta (whore of a fish). Like the name infers, these are dangerous to play with! Penguino, prepares pescado Ranchero, a fishy salsa with his buddies. It's a blur of tequila and sensational fish tacos.

The waterways are called Narooma, Aboriginal for clear water & they're not kidding. We learn how to throw a traditional spear; precise hunting of mullet & bream and gather lobster, abalone & other succulent shellfish. Cooking is no mucking around, boiling and barbying with a few secrets chucked in. It's a seafood-and-eat-it paradise but with the local law playing a tough role.