Sydney Fish Market incorporates a working fishing port, wholesale fish market, fresh seafood retail market, a delicatessen, a sushi bar, a bakery, a gift shop, a fruit and vegetable market, a new meat deli, a beverage outlet, a seafood cooking school, indoor seating and an outdoor promenade for visitors. There are daily wholesale auctions for Sydney’s seafood retailers.
The wholesale marketing of fish in Sydney originally was in the hands of licensed agents at Haymarket. At places other than Sydney, unlicensed operators—most typically fishermen’s cooperatives—marketed fish. The Fish Marketing Authority was established in 1964, by the NSW State Government, and it established a regulated wholesale market. The new organisation relocated the Fish Market to Blackwattle Bay in 1966. During the 1980s, new buildings were erected. These both provided an improved auction floor and expanded the secondary role of the Sydney Fish Market as a visitor attraction and retail venue. Until 1989, fish was sold under a traditional ‘voice’ auction, to the highest bidder. A computerised Dutch auction system was introduced in October 1989, greatly increasing the efficiency of the sale process. The Sydney Fish Market was privatised in 1994 as Sydney Fish Market Pty Ltd. This company is owned in equal parts by the harvesting and marketing sectors of the N.S.W. seafood industry—the Catchers Trust of N.S.W. and the Sydney Fish Market Tenants and Merchants Pty Ltd. Between 1997 and 1999, fish marketing was deregulated in stages and the Sydney Fish Market lost its monopoly in Sydney. However, the efficiency and scale of the auctioning operations at Blackwattle Bay means that a large amount of seafood still goes through the Sydney Fish Market.
On 7 November 2016, the New South Wales Government announced the market would move to a new 35,000 square metres complex on an adjacent site. The new complex will include 15,500 square metres of seafood retail space – compared with 6582 square metres of space for the existing site. On 17 June 2020, the New South Wales Government approved the final plans for the new markets. Completion was scheduled for 2025. However on October 11 2025, it was confirmed that the New Sydney Fish Market is scheduled to open to the public on 19 January 2026. The redevelopment forms part of the New South Wales Government’s Bays Precinct urban renewal program.
