Sydney Fish Market financial collapse: City icon denies financial strife months out from market hub opening
The Sydney Fish Market may be pushing toward opening its new billion-dollar, taxpayer-funded premises in the harbour but the city’s food institution is reportedly floundering on the brink of financial ruin.
Company sources have told the Sydney Morning Herald that auditors have refused to sign off on company accounts three months after a mandatory reporting deadline lapsed.
Auditors reportedly have fears the company could not pay to clean, insure, or operate the new Blackwattle Bay market site — which is about twice the size of the original site next door. The new site has cost taxpayers at least $836 million.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The sources said that Sydney Fish Market would post an $8 million loss in 2023-24 and had retained insolvency experts.
This is the first time in the company’s 30-year history that it has failed to lodge its financial statements on time but it denied trading while insolvent.
In a statement, the company said it remained viable. and had “no reason to believe this will change in the foreseeable future”.
Sydney Fish Markets explained its tardiness on its transition to the new neighbouring market building, and said it was “finalising the accounts with the appropriate level of due diligence, and these will be lodged this quarter”.
The Nightly has approached Sydney Fish Market for comment on the matter.
The new, two-storey Sydney Fish Market building was originally slated to open last year but its ribbon-cutting has been pushed back to November 2025. Infrastructure NSW has confirmed it will hand over the building later this year.
The new site, which has taken five years to build, has been marred in controversy. As well as its delayed construction, its 38 existing tenants tenants have raised concerns about the new facility’s power capacity when it welcomes 27 new subtenants.
The current tenants are concerned the markets will not meet their refrigeration needs and have warned they may need to use diesel generators to power their coolers over the busy Christmas operating periods.
Tenants have also raised concerns about the logistics of transporting seafood between the new building’s two levels.
Once completed, Sydney Fish Market will lease the building under an agreement with the NSW government, which was signed in 2019.
