00:02February 16 is the one month officially since the fish market's been open and this is a big day.
00:09It's Lunar New Year and so there'll be a lot of people from all over Sydney and all over the
00:13state
00:13coming here to buy seafood for the Chinese community particularly.
00:18So they've been trading since 4 o'clock, mud crabs first and then you'll see big tuna going through
00:22and all sorts of seafood from up and down the coast.
00:24It's a huge day, 50 tonnes of seafood, 150 buyers from all over and turning over a lot of money.
00:31And it's a new facility so they've had a whole bunch of people from up and down the coast
00:35coming to look at it for the first time including Graeme Burns.
00:38Graeme, you're from Wallace Lake, tell me a bit about the fishery there.
00:41Oh Wallace Lake is an important fishery particularly for Sydney Fish Market and the Sydney community.
00:46It's a big producer of crabs, mud crabs, blue swimmer crabs
00:50and it's also a big producer of various species of fish such as bonito and bream and whiting and the
00:57like.
00:57So we've been touring the facility downstairs, gone behind the scenes, it looks great, it feels cold
01:04and it's making a difference is it do you think to the quality of the seafood people are getting?
01:09Oh absolutely and that's because this facility is built for purpose.
01:13It's much cooler in the area where the fish are held so the ice is maintained on the fish.
01:18The fish are going to be in much better condition than they were at the old market
01:22and this facility is going to provide a much higher standard of product for the people of Sydney.
01:28Now they've got facilities here where they can have live fish which they haven't had before
01:32and they've got a very big retail section which we can see all around us today.
01:36So the tourism side of the business is probably going to increase a lot.
01:40What do you think this is all going to mean for fishermen in your area?
01:42Well ultimately to all fishermen in New South Wales and beyond it's going to mean higher prices.
01:48Well we hope it's going to mean higher prices.
01:50We produce an enormous array of fish and as you mentioned live fish is going to be something
01:55that's going to be a new line coming into the future.
01:58This facility is going to allow that to happen so that's going to be a big thing going forward.
02:03Now you've been in Wallace Lake yourself as a family for five generations.
02:08What do you think this new fish market means for the fishing industry?
02:12Is there something emblematic about it do you think?
02:14It certainly is. It means hope. Hope for the future because we've got a wonderful new facility
02:22that's going to be here for a very long time.
02:24It's going to provide great opportunity and it's going to keep our industry going into the future.
02:30We have had times in the past where our fisheries have been closed down for various reasons.
02:36Other states and territories have closed their fisheries down completely.
02:39But this facility is going to provide hope that we will have this seafood market now and for future generations.
02:48High prices and another five generations hopefully for you Graeme and your family.
02:52And that's the fish market today. Chinese New Year tonight so Happy Chinese New Year everybody.
02:57And I hope you can still find the things that you want. Live mud crabs and fresh lobsters and it'll
03:02be a great day.
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03:08You
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