Jurien Bay

Jurien Bay Western Australia
Jurien Bay Jetty, 2012
Jurien Bay
Coordinates	30°17′49″S 115°02′31″E / 30.297°S 115.042°E / -30.297; 115.042Coordinates: 30°17′49″S 115°02′31″E / 30.297°S 115.042°E / -30.297; 115.042
Population	1,507 (2011 census Census)
Established	1950s
Postcode(s)	6516
Elevation	2 m (7 ft)
Location	220 km (137 mi) from Perth
LGA(s)	Shire of Dandaragan
State electorate(s)	Moore
Federal Division(s)	Durack
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 24.7 °C 76 °F 13.1 °C 56 °F 559.5 mm 22 in

Jurien Bay, is a coastal town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 220 kilometres (137 mi) north of Perth facing the Indian Ocean.

The coastline around Jurien Bay was first known to Europeans in the 17th century. In 1801–03, an expedition under the command of Nicolas Baudin sailed along the Western Australian coast. Louis de Freycinet, a cartographic surveyor on the expedition, named Jurien Bay after Charles Marie Jurien (1763–1836) of the French naval administration. The area was visited by a number of English explorers from 1822 onwards.

The first settlement was established in the mid-1850s by Walter Padbury. A jetty was constructed in 1885–87 due to the success of pastoralism. In the early 1900s, a temporary fishing village was built around the Jurien jetty and the coastal waters were used for catching dhufish, snapper and groper. Permanent residences were only built in the 1950s; however the buildings were only corrugated iron shanties instead of properly-built dwellings. Initially the settlement struggled to grow due to a poor and unreliable water supply and the isolation of the area at that time.

The townsite was surveyed and was gazetted as Jurien Bay on 21 December 1956; it was renamed Jurien in 1959, but reverted to its original name in 1999. Crayfish (also known as Western Rock Lobster) are abundant in the area, and the town's development soon became influenced by the crayfish industry. New jetties, factories and an airstrip were constructed so that crayfish goods could be flown south to Perth. Crayfishing has now become a multimillion-dollar industry, sending goods regularly to Japan and the United States.

The Jurien Bay "Blessing of the Fleet" festival commenced in the mid-1990s to commemorate the start of the crayfishing season in November each year. Following the opening of Indian Ocean Drive (the coastal route linking Perth) in 2010, the event was re-badged as the Indian Ocean Festival.