The next great travel book
Any aspiring travel writers could do worse that tackle the world of fish markets John Hillman argues. And some of them sit in the most unusual of places.
Anyone stuck for ideas about what there next travel book should be about could do a lot worse than a tour of the world’s major fish markets.
From Tokyo to New York to London these aquatic trading floors have been doing the business for a lot longer, and far more successfully, than any disgraced city-trader could dream of.
The three largest fish markets in the world are Tsukiji in Tokyo, Mercamadrid in Madrid and Sydney Fish Market, Sydney. Together with London’s Billingsgate and New York’s Fulton these industrial institutions constitute a huge chunk of all the seafood that gets caught and sold in the world today.
It might be surprising to see Madrid outstrip New York and London, but not when you consider that Spain is a country were fish flavoured baby-food is readily available on supermarket shelves.
Touring a fish market in the early hours of the morning is a truly awesome spectacle; just the sheer volume of fish on display makes you wonder how on earth the oceans will ever manage to sustain our demands. Indeed there are many people who will tell you that they cannot.
So before supersize fish-markets disappear off into the historical sunset it might be time to pay them a visit. If you are catching a P&O ferry to Zeebrugge you can find one of Europe’s largest fish-markets next to the main port, a good place to start.
Sydney is famous for its fresh seafood and the Fish Market is the best place to buy it. The market also has sushi bars, fish cafes, a bakery, a fine foods deli, a poultry and game specialist, a shop selling fine wines, and the best fresh fruit and veg yet.
There are some other wholesale fish markets in Japan that sell more seafood than MercaMadrid. I have been thinking about writing a book about the world’s wholesale seafood markets for a long time but it requires a large budget. Urban wholesale seafood markets are in decline and many of them have moved from the heart (centre) of a city to the outskirts – examples include Rungis in Paris, MercaMadrid, MercaBarna, Fulton Fish Market, and Billingsgate.