Crowds turned away as Sydney’s colossal new fish market finally opens

A silent auction that started as the city slept signalled the start of a new era for seafood enthusiasts from 4am on Monday. Dozens of traders didn’t skip a beat as they bid on some 60 tonnes of fish and crabs inside the glass-walled auction room of the new $836 million Sydney Fish Market.

Hours later, customers gathered to be the first through the doors of the retail floor at 7am. By lunchtime, ballooning crowds were told to wait in line or return later as the complex reached its capacity of 5000 patrons, and the queue of hopeful customers snaked along Bridge Road in inner-city Glebe.

Premier Chris Minns, who opened the building, said Sydney was now home to the “biggest and best fish market in the world”. The state government has touted the new site as the third major landmark on Sydney Harbour, joining the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and expects it will attract more than 6 million visitors annually.

The long-awaited complex to replace the old fish market at Pyrmont was driven by the former Coalition state government and has been hit by cost blowouts, construction delays, legal squabbles, disagreements with tenants and fishers based at the old site, as well as financial uncertainty.

George Costi, of fish markets stalwart Claudio’s Seafoods, which had operated from the old site for four decades, said the crowds on day one had been akin to those during the frantic New Year’s Eve rush.

“It’s been phenomenal – I knew it was always going to be busy but not to the extent it has been today,” he said.

Nicholas Seafood’s Suraj Lama, who shucks about 200 servings of a dozen oysters a day, described the cavernous market building, with its gleaming, wave-like roof, as “kind of different”.

“I’ll be honest, it doesn’t have the same vibe. But change is good,” Lama said.

Christie’s Seafood partner Mandy Kwok said staff had modelled its retail space on the famed Tokyo Tsukiji fish market, with a design that enabled customers to speak with workers as they perused tanks and tubs of fresh fish, scallops, abalone, southern rock lobsters, king crabs and pipis.

Kwok was cautiously optimistic about the building, which she said was “much more high-end” than the crumbling old site. But she said rusted-on tenants faced “many challenges ahead with a different venue”.

“The government has invested a lot of money to get us here. So we do appreciate it, and we are trying to work with the new Sydney Fish Market [company]. It’s a new chapter … It looks great, no smell!” Kwok said.

Hundreds of visitors arrived early to admire the building from the inside and sample fresh and cooked seafood, sushi, baked goods and coffee, on offer from 40 retailers.

The complex was designed by world-renowned Danish architects 3XN in collaboration with BVN Architecture and Aspect Studios. Its distinctive roof is designed to resemble fish scales.

Among those impressed by its size was visitor Maite Inae, who said: “It feels like an airport.”

Hannah Naseem, who joined a queue outside GetFish, said the “hardest thing has been choosing which place to eat at. You have to be patient but the food looks amazing, so we don’t mind waiting.”

As the lunchtime crowds peaked, the patience of many would-be visitors wore thin as staff told visitors the market was at capacity.

At 12.45pm the queue time to enter was running at 20 to 30 minutes.

Daniel Jarosch, chief executive of the Sydney Fish Market, believes it will take time for Sydneysiders to “learn how to visit” the new tourism drawcard.

“I think it was inevitable that we would have some level of queueing but of course it’s disappointing for people who wanted to get inside and have had to queue,” he said.

Jarosch said the market had a strict crowd capacity of 5000 people and was using high-tech sensors at doorways to monitor crowd numbers.

“I would like to think that we could get everyone into the centre. But I just encourage people, if they’re thinking of coming down, to use the extended hours – instead of coming during the busy lunch period, to come during the evening instead.

“Being day one, there’s been a lot of interest, and visitors are still learning how to use the new markets, and that will take time.”

The cap on 5000 visitors will also remain in place over the busy annual Christmas period, suggesting today’s long lines could be replicated during peak season. The market remains open until 10pm from Sunday to Thursday, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Jarosch said market officials would review crowd issues in the weeks ahead.

“We’ll be holding regular briefings to look at those issues and we’ll continue to get the message out there that we’ve got extended hours,” he said.

Among those told to wait was Alex Jensen, who took a train and tram to experience the opening.

“All we were told is that it’s full and we either have to queue up or come back later,” he said. “It’s disappointing because we made the trip especially to be here.”

Visitors have been encouraged to use public transport, including buses and light rail. There has been heavy scrutiny on car parking, with the new facility offering the same number of spaces (400) as the old market, despite expecting double the visitors.

Manly resident Alan Gerhardt was among the crowd who braved the trip via car mid-morning on Monday.

“It was quite easy to find a spot because of the wardens – it’s not as bad as DFO [Homebush] on a weekend. But it’s expensive – the ticket is $50 for three hours, so we won’t be sticking around.”

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