As Melbourne households finalise shopping lists for Christmas Day, the city’s seafood suppliers are ready to steer their customers towards the season’s best buys.

“Prawn prices are down, but the quality is 100 per cent,” says Angelo Zahos from Aptus Seafood at South Melbourne Market.

“Wild caught king and tiger prawns are $10 cheaper per kilo than they were last year, and $20 cheaper than the year before that.” He’s selling Queensland and Northern Territory tiger prawns for $40 a kilogram, and Queensland king prawns for $50.

South Melbourne Market’s three fishmongers are predicting they will sell 20 tonnes of prawns, 12 tonnes of lobster and crayfish, 10 tonnes of salmon and 25,000 dozen oysters in the week leading up to Christmas.

“Oysters from Tassie and South Australia are good value at $20 to $28 a dozen,” says Zahos. “Lobster is around $120 to $130 a kilogram because the export market to China hasn’t opened up yet. I’ve made really good deals with suppliers because I want to make sure my customers get a good deal too.”

Seafood industry consultant John Susman hopes Australians will approach the occasion as a culinary celebration.

“For many folk, Christmas is the only experience they have of seafood in the whole year, and there’s no better time to do it,” he says. “Lobsters remain as cheap as they’ve been in 30 years. It’s a great time to get a cray on your table.”

He notes that supermarkets can offer a good haul. “Major retailers have shortened the supply chain and their relationships with oyster and prawn growers give them an advantage at this time of year.”

“Lobsters remain as cheap as they’ve been in 30 years. It’s a great time to get a cray on your table.”

John Susman

Recent specials at Coles and Woolworths see Australian tiger prawns under $30 a kilogram. “Rather than spend six hours overcooking a dried-out bird, why not peel a few prawns and have a great time?” he says.

Meanwhile at Dandenong Market, fourth-generation seafood retailer Jessica Schwarze has rockling fillets at the ready.

“I have 42 kilograms ordered for Tuesday, and it’s around $30 kilo,” she says. “Everyone loves rockling at Christmas time. It’s the most versatile white fillet. People use it for curries, the barbecue, they bake it. It’s no skin, no bones – OK for kids.”

Schwarze says her customers are doing more and more backyard cook-ups and fewer traditional roasts for seasonal celebrations.

“A lot of people are buying prawns or lobsters and putting them on the barbecue.

“We have frozen lobster tails for $100 a kilo. If you buy the tail, you’re just buying the meat, and I’ve sourced the smaller ones, so each one is a bit cheaper. We know people don’t have as much to spend this year, so everything is about price.”