The beginning of a great adventure in seafood promotion and event management for the Hervey Bay commercial fishing industry began in October 1998 with the inaugural Hervey Bay Seafood Festival.
The journey started when a group of local commercial fishermen and businesses associated with the seafood industry formed the Hervey Bay Seafood Festival Association to promote the economic worth of commercial fishing within the lifestyle of coastal communities and the health benefits associated with eating fresh locally caught seafood.
Filled with enthusiasm and the can do approach of that fishermen have after a lifetime of facing all that nature throws in a days work, this was just another challenge. To fund the festival , fishermen and the process factories gave generous of their catch and equipment. The on- shore businesses of the industry then sponsored with very generous donations and prizes.
By its very location in natural parkland overlooking World Heritage Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Marine Park, the festival enticed over 10,000 to enjoy a lazy Sunday picnic and to visit the many displays of commercial fishing and ocean life scattered throughout the park. It has become a premier event for the seafood industry and is a dual Australia Day Community Event of Year for Hervey Bay. Each year the festival continues to grow with new attractions and stallholders.
The festival is very much a family community project with an extended family of over 150 volunteers. Friends and families of the States commercial fishermen, seafood processors. Scientists, fisheries manager, local seafood process workers and the associated businesses gather to celebrate their industry with a showcase of their work skills and products.
The Sponsorship Team:
Some ten years on and the festival remains sponsored by businesses associated with the production of seafood. Many of the foundation sponsors who had the courage to embrace the concept continue to share the experience and the excitement of the festival. Each year we welcome new sponsors to the team including the Queensland Events Regional Development Program funding. Generous commercial fishers and seafood process workers continue to donate generously of their catches and time.
Donations from profits are made to fisheries research and development and community projects.
EMS Respecting Community & Environment
The seafood on sale at this year’s Fraser Lions Hervey Bay Seafood Festival has been responsibly harvested from the sustainable saltwater fisheries of Queensland.
The fishers, who are festival volunteers and members of the Queensland Seafood Industry Association, are signatories to the Wide Bay Burnett/ Great Sandy (WBBGS) Environmental Management System for the seafood industry- launched May 2008.
We encourage the seafood consumers to ask their local seafood suppliers to ask for our sustainably and responsibly harvested fish, prawns and crabs. Our vessels and packaging can be identified with this logo.
Thank you for choosing fresh wild caught local seafood – and supporting a truly sustainable industry. Read more about EMS in Queensland seafood here
