Australians can now get seafood bargains ahead of Christmas

Aussies are snapping up fresh seafood deals before Christmas without breaking the bank. SEE THE LIST

Seafood’s starring role on the Christmas table is a very Australian tradition – we live on an island after all. And this year some bargain prices are a welcome gift for local shoppers. With China no longer snapping up the lion’s share of our top-quality seafood, more deals are now on offer.

But it’s not all about fish markets, with supermarkets such as Coles, Woolworths and Aldi also dropping their prices.

Rock lobsters are a classic case in point. A couple of years ago they were sitting around $140/kg.

This year – like last – southern rock lobsters are much cheaper, at $78-$100/kg.

At Coles, WA rock lobsters are available at $22 each, a drop of $5 since last month, while Woolworths also has them priced at $22.
“Seafood is an integral part of an Aussie Christmas and we predict our customers will eat more than 100 tonnes of WA rock lobster across the three weeks of Christmas, compared to 70 tonnes last year,” a Woolworths spokesperson said.

Elsewhere they are around $20-$25 each.

Coles also has WA rock lobster tails and extra-large WA rock lobsters for $20-$22 each and $50-$55, respectively.

“Sharp prices and improved accessibility will continue beyond the Christmas period and through the summer,” a Brolos Western rock lobster spokesperson said.

Lobster is again great value this year.

Brolos also offered tips for lobster preparation, advising consumers to leave frozen lobster to defrost in the fridge overnight, and reminded consumers that WA rock lobster could be defrosted in a sink of cool water if necessary.

“If you’re planning to split your lobster to serve or cook, don’t split until you’re ready to prepare,” the spokesperson said. “This helps to prevent harmless oxidisation of the lobster meat.”

Expect to pay $120-$140/kg for eastern rock lobsters, while tropical rock lobster tails sit at about $68 a kilo nationally.

Sunshine State buyers can pick up tropical lobsters – caught in the Torres Strait – at about $50/kg, Queensland Seafood Marketers Association president Marshall Betzel said.

Prawns are another popular part of the Christmas feast, with prices varying depending on species and place of origin.

Sales data from Seafood Industry Australia has found wild-caught extra-large king prawns sit at about $65-$70/kg, while large versions are $50-$52/kg and mediums $45-$47/kg.

Tiger prawns on average are $48-$50/kg (extra large), $46-$48/kg (large) and $44-$46/kg (medium).

Coles has cooked black tiger prawns at an enticing $27/kg, down from a recent price of $34/kg, raw banana prawns at $24/kg, and ocean prawns from $28/kg.

Aldi is selling their cooked Australian tiger prawns at $24.99/kg.

Coffin Bay oysters are selling for $22.99 a dozen.

Woolworths has medium Australian tiger prawns at $27/kg and extra-large tiger prawns at $29/kg.

Queenslanders can also snap up Queensland king prawns from $35/kg (medium) to $50/kg (large) and Queensland tiger prawns at the same prices.

A Seafood Industry Australia spokesperson also said there is a reliance on Sydney rock oysters nationally, with Pacific oysters coming out of season.

“In urban centres you’ll see them sitting around $30 per dozen for large and $25 a dozen for medium”, she said.

That said, at the Adelaide Central Market, famed SA Coffin Bay oysters are $22.99 a dozen.

Woolworths has advertised Australian Pacific oysters at $18 a dozen.

Sydney Fish Market has also come up with a novel way to keep the Christmas seafood budget under control – substituting cheaper species for more popular alternatives.

It suggests Gurnard/Latchet as an alternative to flathead, ocean perch instead of snapper, Atlantic salmon to replace rainbow or ocean trout, bream to unseat barramundi and astoundingly, scorpion fish to replicate lobster flesh.

Further north, the Northern Territory has cooked frozen mud crab from $59 to $65 a kilo.

Territorians can also grab squid tubes for $12-$21/kg.

For the rest of us, Wooworths has thawed squid tubes for $18/kg, as does Coles.

And, nationally, you should be able to get bugs for $60-$70/kg.

Originally published as Australians can now get seafood bargains ahead of Christmas