Sydney Fish Market Excursion

On Tuesday 15th November 2022 the following Year 12 Food Technology students participated in a behind the scenes tour of the Sydney Fish Markets which allowed our students to see the operations of an organisation in the Australian Food Industry which directly links to our area of study this term. 

• Fabio Andrade Sa
• Jordan Billedo 
• Esther Brown 
• Joshua Del Rosa
• Julie Malki 
• Gwyneth Nanta

As the sun was rising we departed at 5:30am from St Andrew College Senior campus.

 

We arrived at the markets and started with a tour onto the Auction Floor. We learnt about how the catches of the day arrive at the fish markets with fishermen starting their day at 1am in the morning.  This product is then inspected by the buyers and is sold using the Dutch Auction System. This efficient and effective  process has three auctions that run at the same time, selling over 1000 crates of seafood every hour.

 

We were able to walk the Auction floor and see the very fresh produce up close. Being able to feel and touch the produce allows us to discuss the freshness. 

Here are some key learnings from our excursion today:

• We learnt about how the Sydney Fish Market operates and works from the fisherman to the auction floor and to the distribution of produce local and international. It allowed us to make connections to our theory work in class and see it all in action, in the real world.
• Learning about the wide variety of seafood
• Cloudy eyes don’t always determine the freshness of the fish. This can be caused by the ice touching the eye causing freezer burn.

• The Sydney fish market is the only fishery in the world that uses a Dutch auction system to sell produce. 

• How easy and quickly the Dutch Auction System works ensures the product is sold quickly while achieving premium prices.
• Amazed how the Dutch clock auction is a silent auction which begins at the highest price and drops until a bid is made.
• The dutch auctions start at 5:30am

• Tuna has to reach a certain grade prior to being accepted for sashimi preparation

• Learning how to determine how much meat is in a mud crab by how flexible the shell is. If the shell is dense then there is a lot of meat!

• How to grade a mud crab by the firmness of the shell & leftover fish are used as fertilizer to avoid wastage

• Sydney Fish Markets also works with the CSIRO and Oceanwatch Australia to help with sustainability.
• Sydney Fish Markets is a sustainable and environmentally friendly organisation by recycling styrofoam boxes which get broken down and remade to form new boxes.

We were feeling very tired by the time we returned back to school but are very grateful for the wonderful experience. We would like to thank our parents who dropped us off to school very early to go on this fantastic excursion. We would also like to thank Mr Robson for accompanying us on today's excursion! Until our next foodie adventure...

Mrs Cassandra Carlos
Assistant Leader of Learning Technologies