Inaugural Seafood Saturday event sails to success

Nelson’s Seafood Saturday surfed waves of enthusiasm over the weekend in a public celebration of the region’s deep connection to the seafood sector and blue economy.

Hundreds of people packed the pedestrian area of Upper Trafalgar Street on Saturday 25 March, taking the opportunity to make the sunny day an outing for the whole whānau. Children enjoyed complimentary face painting, entertainment, craft, and fun educational activities in the First Mate community zone. The free fish and chips donated by Sealord and The Vic Public House also went down a treat with young families. 

Over in 1903 Square, there was a steady demand for build-your-own crumbed hoki fish burgers. The burgers were sold for $5 (or more), with proceeds going to Nelson Coastguard. On stage in 1903 Square, Sealord fish filleters expertly prepared orange roughy, silver warehou, and ling in front of a rapt audience.

And throughout all activities, a constant stream of succulent kaimoana was brought to the table for 160 diners who had splashed out on the sold-out degustation meal. The six different tasting plates – oysters, clams, orange roughy, salmon, snapper, and mussel – were carefully ferried from participating restaurants and caterers by smartly dressed hospitality workers.

Seafood NZ Chief Executive Dr Jeremy Helson says the inaugural event highlighted the community’s recognition of the important role the seafood sector plays for Nelson Tasman.

“There were nearly 700 people attending the event throughout the afternoon, and we have received great feedback from people about how well the day went,” Helson says.

“This was a unique opportunity for the people in the seafood industry who are usually behind the scenes, such as fishers, filleters and fishing industry training organisations, to get a moment in the spotlight and share their passion with the public.

“The timing was also amazing – Seafood Saturday coincided with the Government’s announcement of funding for the Nelson-based Moananui blue economy industry cluster.” 

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith and MP for Nelson Rachel Boyack were both in attendance. In his social media post later that day, the Mayor said:

“One of my ambitions for Nelson is to raise the profile of our links with the ocean – the seafood industry and the science and environmental expertise to support it, the port and many marine industries there as well as recreationally with our marina and sea sports.

“We need to celebrate the dozens of businesses and their hundreds of workers who work so hard to produce the delicious products and earn hundreds of millions in exports.”

Thanks to the success of the event, organisers are currently looking at holding Seafood Saturday in Nelson every year and expanding it to other fishing regions around the country.

Visit seafoodsaturday.nz to learn more about the event and the kaimahi who underpin the industry.