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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Olivia Ireland

Seafood providers expect long Christmas Eve queues as lobster 'flies off shelves'

John Fragopolous, holding a lobster which is a popular Christmas seafood. Picture by James Croucher

As the weather gets warmer and Christmas Day comes closer, more Canberrans are making their way to get fresh seafood.

Lobster has been "flying off the shelves" for John Fragopoulos, the managing director of FishCo Fish Market in Fyshwick.

"[The lobsters] are from the South Coast ... and we have all sizes, screaming for happily ever after in the tank, waiting for people to come and pick and choose what they like," he said.

"They are $30 down ... and they're fantastic, they're walking out the door."

Mr Fragopoulos noted that since Foreign Minister Penny Wong's visit to China, a trade agreement to supply lobster may come soon.

"The exports have dropped but being a fantastic product, we're expecting Ms Wong to come back now and say 'go go over to China' so we can continue to enjoy lobster as we used to 20-30 years ago," he said.

While lobster will likely be a popular option, Mr Fragopoulos said his 12-year-old fish shop would be prepared for any request.

"Most of our prawns, lobsters, crabs, oysters and so forth came in yesterday and we're going to sell today and tomorrow the same product and we've got plenty of ice and boxes," he said.

"We're going to send the boxes to customers and they can open the box on Christmas Day and enjoy the seafood."

In terms of what Mr Fragopoulos' personal preference is, he said this year it would be fish.

"I pick and choose the fish that I want to take home for my table and that is the fresh fish ... the humble little South Coast fish is right up there because it's fresh," he said.

Up north in Belconnen, general service provider from Sea Harvest Charlie Paget, described the week as "mayhem" over the number of people buying seafood.

"Last year by five in the morning there was already a line at the shop and I've got a good feeling that Christmas Eve is going to be even worse," he said. "I'll be starting at 3am on Christmas Eve, just to get ready for the rush."

The top selling products for Sea Harvest have included a range of seafood according to Mr Paget.

"Our tiger prawns, Queensland tiger prawns and then things like South Coast king prawns have been selling out like crazy at the moment," he said.

"And things like the South Coast lobsters have been selling.

"I would recommend the prawns, you can't go wrong."

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