By Asa Wahlquist, Glebe Society representative on the New Sydney Fish Market Community Consultative Committee, Bulletin 9/2025 November

Image: sydneyfishmarket.com.au

The new Sydney Fish Market is scheduled to open on 19 January next year. After some speculation that the market could open in November, the Sydney Fish Market CEO Daniel Jarosch said the January date would give tenants time to finish the fitouts. December is the busiest month at the Sydney Fish Market, and there was a long-standing agreement they would not move premises in December. The original proposal by the NSW Government in 2017 was for a new $250 million fish market at Blackwattle Bay. By 2019 the cost had blown out to $750 million, which included a promenade, public spaces and a ferry wharf.

The most recent estimate is $836 million.

The new market is forecast to have double the number of visitors, but with the same number of car park spaces. Public transport will include the nearby light rail, with the Wentworth Park stop to be renamed and $40 million spent on improving the connection between the light rail stop and the market.

Local residents are concerned visitors will want to park in nearby streets, where parking spaces are already in high demand. Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, Jess Miller, said the council will closely monitor the demand.

The proposed ferry route from Barangaroo to the new Fish Market cannot get underway until a new wharf is built at the market. The two remaining fishing boats that deliver to the market currently dock at a wharf tucked in between the old and new markets. Only when the new market opens, and both boats dock at their new wharfs, can construction begin on the new ferry wharf.

A spokesperson for Transport for NSW told the most recent New Sydney Fish Market Community Consultative Committee meeting that the new wharf could be finished by the end of next year. The route will be serviced by a ferry similar in size to the 200-seater river class ferry that services the route to Parramatta.

The vast majority of the work on the building, including the auction hall, the internal floors, the plantings and outdoor seating, has been completed, with final inspections underway.

Multiplex, the builder, is scheduled to complete its work on 11 November. The removal of the silt curtain in the bay and the barriers will be their final tasks.

A number of businesses have begun their fitouts, and the later opening date will give the operators of the Sydney Fish Market time to do some testing.

The Fish Market has been at its current site since 1966. The State Government is proposing a massive development of 1500 apartments on the site, as well as commercial and retail spaces. The proposed development will include a 30-metre wide waterfront walk which will provide a key link in the Rozelle Bay to Woolloomooloo foreshore walk.