Seafood sales in Australia for the month of December 2020 witnessed a 30 per cent growth compared to December 2019, Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) said in a recent statement.
"It's no secret 2020 was a hard year for the Australian seafood industry," SIA CEO Veronica Papacosta said. "We needed a bumper Christmas period to help us claw our way back, we called on the community to support us and switch one meal on the Christmas table to Australian seafood, and we are beyond thrilled to report they did just that."
The most popular products during the recent Christmas season were Australian prawns, rock oysters, rock lobsters, and crabs.
Ms Papacosta said that, despite the high sales figures generated in December, export markets are still trending down and the industry itself continues to be impacted by the ongoing trade dispute with China, hence her repeated call for the public to support local seafood companies even after the Christmas season has already ended.
"If just one per cent of the population committed to changing one meal a week to locally sourced Australian seafood like prawns, salmon or snapper that would be more than 250,000 meals per week of Australian seafood on tables around the country. 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."
