As leaders in an industry that is steeped in tradition and has been operating in similar ways for decades, moving into the digital world has been a looming challenge for Sydney Fish Market for many years. 2022-23 will see the business evolve significantly with the launch of a digital trading platform, the first of its kind and scale in the country.
While transitioning an industry with such a long and storied history to online trading presents a challenge, Sydney Fish Market is embracing the task of bringing the commercial seafood industry into the digital world.
The history of fishing in Australia goes back many millennia: beginning with Indigenous populations fishing for sustenance (often using impressive infrastructure), continuing with the first European settlers, and evolving gradually (through immigration and myriad other cultural influences) into the diverse and multifaceted commercial fishing industry we know today.
In an industry with a unique focus on community and history, it is important to maintain a sense of connection between seafood traders, even while forging ahead into the digital space. Fishing has long been a career passed down from parent to child; many of those who trade through Sydney Fish Market represent the second, third, or even fourth generation of the family business. It is truly a special opportunity to keep this sense of community alive while also modernising trade.
Sydney Fish Market's auction has been the central market for the purchase and sale of seafood in Australia since 1966, when it was operated as a traditional 'voice' auction. This system saw buyers assemble outside the sales bay fence, where inside an assistant would hold up samples of fish from each box, for buyers to bid on until the highest price was reached.
The first change to the auction process came about in November 1989, when the NSW Fish Marketing Authority introduced a computerised Dutch auction, dramatically evolving and increasing the efficiency of seafood sales.
Sydney Fish Market operations are now set to undergo their most transformative change yet, with the introduction of , a landmark digital trading platform developed using ShoreTrade technology.
This new system, which complements the existing physical auction, will provide a huge range of benefits for many sectors of the seafood industry, allowing Sydney Fish Market to operate 24/7, expand its services further around Australia, and better serve both the aquaculture and wild-catch sectors.
Distribution hubs in major cities across the East Coast of Australia will facilitate expansion and diversification of SFM’s buyer base, and offer those buyers located outside of Sydney (and the communities they service) access to a much broader range of product.
Sydney Fish Market is renowned for the diversity of species traded, including a wide range sourced locally in NSW and from across the country that are, at times, not commonly available in other markets. SFM also transacts on approximately 1350 tonnes of New Zealand seafood to Australian based buyers annually, meaning that there is huge potential to extend the focus of this trade beyond Sydney.
While online seafood trading has taken off in Europe, Australia hasn't yet seen the same level of adoption. To date there has not been an online market in Australia equipped to cater for a diverse range of commercial species – Sydney Fish Market alone trades in more than 500 species every year.
As the number of seafood buyers that prefer to conduct their businesses online grows, it is necessary to now provide both physical and online markets, which can each facilitate their own form of trading. Sydney Fish Market is uniquely placed to maintain the largest physical seafood market in the country whilst simultaneously moving the industry into the digital world, allowing suppliers and buyers to transact online, at auction, or both.
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