Thousands of Australians have started tucking into their seafood feast as the long weekend kicks off, but for many the cost of living crisis has changed the layout of their Easter banquets. More than 1000 tonnes of seafood is set to be sold across the nation's most popular fish markets as traders geared up for the markets' single busiest day of the year. A whopping 650 tonnes of crustaceans, molluscs and fish will be snapped up at the Sydney Fish Market alone with Sydneysiders braving the rain and the market's briny odour for a taste. Carmelo Lombardo, a retail manager at Sydney Fish Market store Get Fish, says customers started lining up from 4am. "I didn't expect the return rate to be so good, especially with the weather, but it's been awesome. We haven't had an Easter like this since pre-COVID," he told AAP on Friday. Thousands jostled through the market's arcade on Friday morning - families in matching raincoats went elbow to elbow with tourists in search of a dry table as the aroma of a dozen lobster thermidors drifted through the main hall. With these visitor numbers, dining tables will still boast a cornucopia of seafood, but Sydney Fish Market tour guide Alex Stollznow says rising costs and inflation have changed Australian appetites. "One of the most pleasant surprises is people realising, 'wow, cheap fresh fish tastes as good as expensive fresh fish'," he said. Tanisha Blake and her teenaged relatives travelled almost 100km from the Central Coast to the Sydney Fish Market to indulge. Hailing from a family of self-professed seafood fanatics, Ms Blake said the cost of living crisis hadn't necessarily changed her spending habits. "It's not really changed how I buy food," she said, with trays of chargrilled crab legs and oysters on hand. "But I have to save more carefully now because this is how I choose to spend." Traders at Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market have recommended a spate of delicious alternatives. "Shoppers can make their dollar go further by purchasing whole fish varieties like locally caught barramundi, salmon and rainbow trout that can feed the whole family," Damien Prosser from Prosser's Seafood said. It's not just Easter lunches that will feel the pinch. Nearly two-thirds of Australians are planning to stay home this holiday period, with 40 per cent unable to afford accommodation or travel expenses, according to a survey commissioned by Tourism and Transport Forum Australia. For those who will be travelling, most will stay in their home state. Drivers can expect a bigger police presence on the roads as authorities work to manage the 21 per cent increased risk of death or injury over the holiday period. Double demerit points will also be in force from Thursday through to Monday for drivers in NSW, the ACT and Western Australia. Further curbing travelling plans will be the spate of wet weather set to batter most major cities. A series of cold fronts will bring cool, wet and windy conditions across the southern states while severe thunderstorms are forecast to batter the east coast on Friday afternoon. In Sydney, the grand parade at the Royal Easter Show was cancelled due to the potential storms. Meanwhile, street performers for a Wesley Mission Good Friday will brave the weather with an interactive theatre performance of Jesus carrying a heavy wooden cross through Sydney's Martin Place. Australian Associated Press
