Sydney Fish Markets to kick off 36-hour shopathon from 5am Friday

Sydney Seafood Market’s 36-hour shopathon starts at 5am on Friday — and this year’s record rainfalls have provided a bumper crop of prawns and other seafood.

Finally there is a silver lining to the months of east coast rains this year — more families are expected to sit down to a seafood Christmas lunch thanks to a bumper prawn season resulting from the deluge.

For those keen to ditch the traditional roast for barramundi and rock lobsters, Sydney Fish Market will kick off its famous 36-hour marathon shopathon from 5am Friday morning, with 100,000 customers expected to flock through the doors.

By 5pm on Christmas Eve, when the doors will close, an estimated 350 tonnes of seafood will be sold.

Following the record high rainfalls along the east coast in recent months, fishmongers say they anticipate a bumper crop, with succulent school, king and tiger prawns all in plentiful supply, from as low as $20 a kilo.

Master Fish Merchants’ Association executive officer Michael Kitchener said seafood sellers were expecting good sales going into Christmas.

“There will be plenty of quality sought-after Australian prawns, crabs and rock lobster available at similar prices to last year,” he said. “Oyster prices might be a little up on last year due to supply constraints, but they’ll still be readily available.”

For those after a whole fish, there should be good supplies of wild-caught snapper, and farmed barramundi and Atlantic salmon.

Con Doukas, of Musumeci Seafood at Sydney Fish Market, gets ready for the 36-hour seafood marathon, starting 5am Friday. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Seafood Industry Australia said the days of the traditional Christmas roast were “long gone”.

“Our great Australian seafood has firmly cemented its place as the centrepiece for the quintessential Aussie Christmas lunch,” chief executive Veronica Papacosta said.

“Gone are the days of slaving over a hot oven. Nowadays people opt to enjoy some of our delicious, fresh rock oysters with a squeeze of lemon, a few kilos of prawns, a side of smoked salmon, and some of our fantastic rock lobsters.

“Prawns are traditionally the biggest seller of the season, however we are seeing rock lobsters and whole-fin fish like Tasmanian Atlantic salmon and barramundi rising in popularity as people opt for seafood over the traditional beef or lamb roast.

“Australian prawns are abundant this year between our wild-catch and aquaculture operations.”

She said the season “had been fantastic” for wild-caught king and banana prawns.

“If you’re in a coastal community, have a chat with your seafood retailer about your local school prawns, which are often really sweet and can be eaten whole,” she said.

Ben and Sally Hancock, with Ollie, 4, and Beau, 1, tuck into a seafood lunch at Sydney Fish Market on Thursday. Picture: Justin Lloyd

And lobsters are no longer reserved for the rich.

“There is still going to be a really nice abundance of western rock lobsters in the domestic market, consumers can expect to find these in stores for between $30-35 each,” Ms Papacosta said.

But with the loss of the Port Stephen oyster farms, it has been a tough season for the Sydney rock oyster growers.

“Moreton Bay and Balmain bugs are of lovely quality with really sweet, delicate meat.

“We expect these to be the same price as last year. Alongside lobster and prawns, bugs can take pride of place on your seafood platter,” Ms Papacosta said.

“This will put pressure on the supply available, but the Sydney rock oysters in-market are of fantastic quality.”

She also recommended consumers be on the lookout for southern bluefin tuna, “which has been excellent lately.”

AUSTRALIANS TO SPEND $23.4 BILLION ON CHRISTMAS FOOD

Australians are planning to eat, drink and be merry for Christmas in record numbers, with spending on food alone estimated to hit $23.4 billion.

But the festive splurge has come with a hefty price tag for shoppers, with predictions it will “be the most expensive on record” following price hikes in staples like lamb, fish, chicken, beef and pork.

Business NSW says the floods combined with supply chain issues, has pushed up the cost of beef and pork by 9 per cent, while chicken, lamb and fish have risen 5 per cent.

“While this Christmas is expected to be the most expensive on record, Business NSW is predicting another increase of up to 8 per cent in costs for Christmas 2023,” chief executive Daniel Hunter said.

The Australian Retailers Association says some of the bumper sales are being driven by inflation fears, with Aussies trying to get in early before prices rise.

The supermarket giants say they’re expecting record sales on a number of their popular Christmas classics like cherries, hams and mangoes.

And butchers are reporting huge crowds as shoppers decide to buy their own food to cook at home to save on the cost of eating out.

Hayden Lewis with a Christmas ham at Craig Cook The Natural Butcher, in Bondi Junction. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Craig Cook the Natural Butcher, which operates 12 stores across Sydney and Newcastle, describes scenes of “absolute mayhem” as shoppers make last-minute buys.

“It’s a crazy time of year, more people are cooking at home because it’s just so expensive to eat out,” butcher Hayden Lewis said.

“Our numbers are double what they were last year.”

Woolies says it will sell a record 2.8 million mangoes and more than 1.83 million kilos of their half leg hams, more than last year’s totals.

And Coles says it’s selling nearly 3 million kilos of Aussie cherries — 35 per cent more than last year — and expects to have a whopping 6.5 million pavlovas, puddings and mince pies fly out its doors.

Woolworths says shoppers are keen on the Christmas classics like ham, pavlovas, mangoes and puddings, and are also looking for things that save them time.

It estimates it will have sold more than 920,000 Christmas puddings, 639,000 rum balls and almost 12 million fruit mince pies this year.

“Customers are looking forward to the dishes and treats they don’t typically indulge in through the rest of the year, and we expect to see record sales of some of our Woolworths Christmas favourites, including ham, mangoes and puddings,” Woolworths managing director Natalie Davis said.

The supermarket giant has kept the price of its half leg ham the same as last year — $8.50 per kilo — and has done the same for its turkeys at $8 per kilo because “we know many customers are feeling the budget pinch this Christmas”.

Rival giant Coles expects to sell 3 million kilos of Christmas hams, 720,000 kilos of prawns, 600,000 pieces of salmon and rock lobsters, and 7.5 million mangoes.