Do you fancy yourself a champion prawn peeler or the ideal customer for a mullet sandwich? If so, the Taste of Seafood festival could be for you.
Newcastle's Commercial Fisherman's Co-operative at Wickham will host the festival's seventh event on Saturday morning, encouraging Hunter residents to shop local and seasonally for the best catch.
"The goal for us is to get information to the public about the fishing industry," the co-operative's chief executive, Robert Gauta, says. "Not many people know a lot about it."
"The event will include talking to fishermen about how they keep the industry sustainable. We want visitors to love the seafood industry."
Newcastle is one of the state's fishing hot spots, with a circulation of seasonal catches including salmon, kingfish, whiting, bream and mulloway. A tour of the co-op, including local fishing trawlers, will be on display.
"We want people to understand local is best," Mr Gauta says. "There is only one way you are really going to get fresh and [flavourful fish], and that's if it's local."
A smorgasbord of gourmet seafood will be available from 9am, including usual supply from the co-op, which is caught between north of Tacoma on the Central Coast and south of Seal Rocks.
Plates and cooking demonstrations from world-renowned chefs like Phil Harte are set to be a drawcard, with crowds of up to 3,000 people expected. Mr Harte, who has been at all seven Taste of Seafood events, will be dishing up a mango seafood curry the way he knows best - using "simple" and fresh ingredients.
"I'm going to do some sashimi and all sorts of nonsense," he said. "[There] is a bit of magic to it.
"We work with the local co-ops at each event location and invite locate content. This is great [in Newcastle] because we have a restaurant and cafe specialising in seafood. We have a seafood retail shop and yacht club right next door."
Next to Mr Harte's truck, Marine Rescue NSW will serve mullet sandwiches with all proceeds going back to the organisation.
A prawn peeling competition runs in three heats at 10am, 11am and 12pm. Restaurant vouchers and a prawn trophy will be up for grabs.
The event is run by Professional Fishers Association NSW, who aim to champion local industry.
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