Love Seafood ...Love Port Stephens with Ross Fidden Commercial Fisherman

Getting to know… Ross Fidden, Commercial Fisherman

Fifth generation fisherman, Ross Fidden is passing his skills of 38 years onto the next cohort of fisherman in the family, his nephews and potentially his son who currently works as a chef.

“My son wants to go fishing, he is a chef at the moment and he wants to combine fishing and working in a restaurant,” Ross says.

“Fishing in Port Stephens is so special because of our clear water, the unspoiled environment and the fact there’s no industry here, it’s a lovely pristine area.”

As a Commercial Fisherman, Ross fishes in Tea Gardens, around the Port, the Myall River and Myall Lakes. His main catches include estuary fish, mullet, bream, whiting, flathead, blue swimmers and mud crabs and school prawns.

When asked what his favourite Port Stephens seafood was, Ross had trouble narrowing it down. “The lobsters are fantastic, the crabs are brilliant, the fish is very very good, but the prawns from the Myall River are the best school prawns in the state!” Ross says.

Selling locally to the Commercial Fish Co Op, Ross’ catch is distributed throughout the Co Op’s branches and also down in Sydney.

According to Ross one of main differences between seafood fished at Port Stephens compared to other areas in the state is its freshness, with the Bay, and the ocean so close and the Co Op right near the water, it is hard to argue with Ross’ logic.

“Port Stephens is such a great environment to work in, why wouldn’t you love it. People come to the area to holiday, and we get to live and work here, it’s great!”

Fact
Seafood sold at the Commercial Fisherman Co Op can be distributed to its branches in Nelson Bay, Newcastle, Tea Gardens, Swansea, Gorokan, and Bungwahl .

p.s. you'll love it xx