One of the highlights of the FRDC Board’s recent trip to the Port Stephens area was meeting with the people behind Port to Plate, a cookbook and website celebrating the wonderful local seafood with more than 40 recipes created by local chefs, community members and families that have lived in the area for generations. 

Author Lynda Sloan explained how the project was conceived to provide information to the local and broader community about fresh, local, and sustainable seafood and to help them make more informed purchasing choices to support sustainable fishing practices. 

The Port to Plate website and cookbook is published by Port Stephens Community Pty Ltd and supported by the Nelson Bay Fish Market, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and the NSW Seafood Industry Council. 

In addition to recipes, the book and website provide information on local fishing practices, profiles on local fishers and aquaculturalists and background information and cooking notes on each species.  

The group is now building an interactive community of seafood lovers, where members can extend their experience of the Port to Plate cookbook.  

Members will gain access to online recipes with new recipes regularly added, get unlimited access to the Port to Plate Chef TV where you can watch our Chef's creating recipes, learn how to properly select, store and cook different types of seafood, and see video demonstrations of essential techniques for working with seafood from filleting, skinning and pin-boning fish, to shucking oysters and sectioning crabs.  

A percentage of the cookbook’s profits are directed to various charities that fit with the organisation’s mission, with Oceanwatch Australia as the first charity chosen. 

Find out more: https://www.porttoplate.com.au