Service may have slowed at the Commercial Fishermen's Co-Op given social-distancing measures but the demand for fresh seafood ahead of Easter is as strong as ever.
Co-Op manager Robert Guata said trade this week had been "on par with last year" despite the impacts of the coronavirus.
"I wasn't expecting that," he said. "We've had increased sales for the last five days."
Mr Guata said it appeared people who normally go out for meals over the long weekend were buying seafood instead, which helped to make up for any shortfall of regular customers that may have chosen to avoid the Co-Op's bustling Wickham shopfront.
"I think people that eat at pubs and clubs are coming here for their fish and oysters because they want their fix," he said.
Mr Guata said the Co-Op would sell about three tonnes of prawns this week, along with a variety of other seafood.
"We've got some really good local product," he said. "Local prawns, flathead, mullet, squid and calamari and some local snapper.
"Plus the usual salmon from Tassie and barra from Queensland.
"It's all really fresh and selling very well. This is one of the few years we're the gods have been on our side and the prawns have been caught."
Mr Guata said only 12 customers were allowed inside the Co-Op's purchasing area due to social distancing measures it had been forced to implement.
"It's frustrating, the safety measures we've put in place has slowed the service," he said.
"Only 12 people in the store at once and we used to hand the packages back to the customers until they got to the till, but we've decided to hand them direct to the till so the customer only touches it once."
Mr Guata said if there was a rush of customers on Thursday it might be difficult to get everyone through.
"God help us tomorrow," he said on Wednesday. "If we get anywhere close to last year's demand tomorrow, we're going to struggle. We're either going to have not enough seafood tomorrow, or too much, I've got no idea which way it's going to go."
He encouraged parents to leave their children at home if possible and for customers to buy for multiple people if need be.
"If they can come by themselves that would be the best option," he said.
"If you get a list off grandma instead of bringing her down, that's going to make life easier for everyone."
