Hammond Seafoods: Opening day a ‘madhouse’ as new $1.3m shop at Invermay pulls in huge crowd
A legendary Tasmanian fishing family’s $1.3m seafood mecca has seen enormous foot traffic on its first day, with queues only set to grow once the gourmet cooked seafood kitchen is installed.
Tasmania
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A fifth-generation fishing family who started plying their craft in the waters off Flinders Island in 1920 have launched a new $1.3m seafood shop and processing facility to huge foot traffic, the line twenty-five deep at 10.30am.
Hammond Seafoods, located at 2 Weld St, Invermay, is named for the legendary Bass Strait fishing family of the same name.
John Hammond, a 60-year veteran of the industry, said Tuesday’s opening was a “madhouse”.
“I’m supposed to be retired. I’m tired, but there’s no ‘re’,” Mr Hammond said.
“I was here until midnight last night. An hour and a half sleep. I went to the boat at 3am this morning to load trays. 4am, I started cooking it.
“But that’s the fish industry.”
Mr Hammond said he had wanted to open a brick-and-mortar shop for decades.
It wasn’t until the vacant former workshop became available that he saw the chance to turn his dream into reality.
“I could never find anywhere to do it. But here, there’s easy access in and out, no competition around,” he said.
The family invested $1.3m in transforming the dilapidated building and an additional $3m on buying a fourth boat, the Marion H shark vessel, and purchasing licenses to secure a constant supply of fresh gummy for customers.
The shopfront area is complemented at the back by a yet-to-be installed commercial kitchen and a processing facility preparing the fresh seafood, much of it caught by the Hammonds’ own fleet of four vessels.
When the processing kitchen is installed in early 2024, Hammond Seafoods will have a “full range of up-market takeaway seafood,” including sushi and crayfish rolls.
The Hammond family can trace their saltwater blood back to the 1920s, when Mr Hammond’s grandfather George started fishing the waters off Flinders Island.
The opening of the Lady Barron canning factory saw George supply it with shark and stingray livers.
George’s son Harley Jack followed him onto the water, as did Harley Jack’s son, Mr Hammond.
He was fishing with his father by the age of 10.
“I spent most of my time on the boats. I wasn’t learning much at school so I thought I better
learn the fishing caper,” Mr Hammond said.
By 1964, he was fishing full-time, mainly for crayfish, giant crab and scallops, and was captaining his father’s vessel, the Arlie D.
“All we had was a paper sounder and one radio. No refrigeration, nothing. Kangaroos hanging around the rail, that was the bait back then,” Mr Hammond said.
More recently, Mr Hammond’s son John junior has taken over operation of Hammond Seafoods’ four vessels while daughter Brooke is the manager.
Mr Hammond’s wife Jill remains as involved in the business as ever.
And, like the four generations before him, Henry, John junior’s son, is learning the craft from his old man on the family’s fleet.
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