How to find the best Christmas seafood bargains in Melbourne

Don’t want to spend a fortune on seafood this festive season? Fishmongers share their thrifty hacks on how to net a bargain.

Preston Seafoods owner Nathan Valls said customers were buying 3-5kg frozen prawn boxes the week before Christmas to save money. Picture Rebecca Michael.

Looking to save some cash on seafood this festive season? Buy frozen, not fresh, and get in early.

Despite the cost of living crisis’s grip on household spending, fishmongers say families will still pay top dollar for crayfish, prawns and oysters next week, simply because ‘it’s Christmas’.

Preston Seafood’s owner Nathan Valls said some customers were buying frozen seafood earlier this year to avoid Christmas-week cost blowouts.

“People are buying bulk prawns frozen to save that money, but then we will still have people wanting to come in and see what we have next week,” he said.

Valls expects to sell up to two and half tonne of prawns, about 200kg crayfish and 2500 dozen oysters next week alone.

“People with money will spend money and we’re noticing a lot of people who haven’t got money looking for other options,” he said.

Whole fish, such as snapper and king george whiting, were popular cost-effective choices.

Lisa Ryland, from Gazza’s Gourmet Seafood at the Queen Victoria Market, said frozen prawns were just as good as fresh.

“Nearly all of the wild-caught prawns are frozen anyway. The boats go out three weeks at a time and flash freeze them on the boat, so they are already pre-frozen,” she said.

“I always suggest if you have room in freezer, buy them now and defrost them on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to avoid the last-minute rush”.