China may have dropped imports of Australian lobsters, but domestic consumers queued up for seafood in huge numbers before Christmas.
The seafood industry’s peak body said this support by Australians over the festive period resulted in a significant boost in its Christmas sales.
It was a difficult 2020 for Australian fishermen with COVID-19 affecting both food service and export markets.
“We needed a bumper Christmas period to help us claw our way back,” Veronica Papacosta, CEO of Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) said.
It seems that SIA’s campaign calling on consumers to support the struggling sector, by switching one meal on the Christmas table to seafood, worked.
“We’re hearing from retailers and producers right across the country that they’re up, on average, 30 per cent from last year’s December sales,” Ms Papacosta said.
While the crustaceans and molluscs — prawns, rock oysters, crabs, and bugs — were all popular, the $20 Western Rock Lobster bargain was also highly sought after.
The SIA is now calling on Australians to continue supporting the industry by changing one meal a week to locally sourced seafood.
“This could mean the difference between a fisher making or missing a mortgage payment, and a boat heading out of harbour, or spending another week docked,” Ms Papacosta said.
ABC