Sydney Fish Market Wins Government Grant

[mrmoshe]

Sydney Fish Market wins government grant

Sydney Fish Market has won a $250,000 federal grant to market a new brand of seafood in a bid to overcome a plateau in the Australian market.

The grant has been awarded from $23 million earmarked for onshore businesses as part of a $220 million assistance package for Australia's fishing industry.

ADVERTISEMENT

Federal Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said the market in the inner suburb of Pyrmont, popular with tourists and Sydney residents alike, had been hit by the downsizing of the fishing industry.

The government had recently bought out 550 commercial fishing licenses to allow operators to leave the industry "with dignity", he said.

"That has an impact in relation to on-shore businesses," Senator Abetz said.

"The Sydney Fish Market, iconic as it is, has been impacted and it means the government is seeking to assist them to be able re-market and rebrand themselves."

The market's managing director, Grahame (Grahame) Turk said the funding was important as it would be enable them to launch a range of new products later this year.

Mr Turk said he was keeping details of the new range under wraps until then but indicated it would include less well-known species of seafood.

The grant money would help the new range compete with imported products, he said.

"Imported products have increased over the last few years, the main reason being the Australian production of seafood has plateaued and it's not going to get any higher," Mr Turk said.

"But it is under good management, we think Australian fisheries are sustainably managed and we need to make sure we get the most value out of that level of production that we can."

Mr Turk also revealed the market was in negotiation with the state government over public funding of a possible relocation or renovation of the Pyrmont site.