Seafood Industry of Victoria

Geelong is Victoria's second largest city (population 145,335) and is located a short 55 minute drive (72km) from Melbourne to the southwest on Corio Bay.

Geelong supports a number of wild catch fisheries as well as aquaculture farms, processing and value adding companies as well as wholesale and retail operators.
Wild catch sourced from the Geelong area includes squid , scallops , pilchards, rock lobster , shark , scale fish from Port Phillip Bay and the South East Fishery , sea urchins, jellyfish, wrasse and seaweed ( Undaria ).

Squid fishing takes place during February to May but the season is highly variable. About 30 boats target squid during the season following them from Queenscliff to Portland. Most of the locally caught squid is processed in Geelong employing a work force of 53 people during the peak season.

Mussel farming occurs in the Geelong Arm of Port Phillip Bay near Port Arlington. The mussels are grown on long ropes suspended from buoys in deepwater. Blooms of the bitter tasting algae ( Rhizoselenium chunii ) have greatly affected the mussel farms. Some 20 farms operate in the area employing about 50 people.

Scallop fishing and processing was major activity in Geelong until the closure of scallop fishing in Port Phillip Bay in 1996. The closure had a significant effect on the local industry with loss of jobs and export earnings. Six processing companies are located in Geelong employing about 50 people. Eight scallop boats use Geelong as their home base.

A couple of abalone divers work from Geelong.
Five rock lobster boats work from Geelong.

New and unusual species are now being sourced from the Geelong region. These include sea urchins, periwinkles, jellyfish and seaweed. These species are collected for Asian markets where taste buds are a bit more exotic although operators are interested to create a local market.

Geelong has seven processing and value-adding companies providing an employment base of 141 jobs. This expands to over 220 jobs during peak seasons.

Processed products are sold to overseas markets in Europe, Asia and New Zealand. These local businesses contribute about AU$32.2 million annually to the local economy.

Geelong hosted Victoria's premier seafood event in 1998 and 2000. The International Seafood Fair is held on the waterfront gardens, Steampacket Place. The event brings together serious buyers and sellers of seafood and reaches the general public and gives them a taste of exciting seafood products.