Thousands of visitors during this year's Rugby World Cup are in for their own little taste of New Zealand.
"We're a country surrounded by water and we love seafood. We're looking forward to sharing the best New Zealand has to offer with our international visitors," said Seafood Industry Council Chief Executive Peter Bodeker.
"There's all sorts of ways they can experience a little of what makes this country unique, like heading down to the deep south and savoring some Bluff oysters, sampling a range of seafood at the Nelson Seafood Festival, or even sitting on the beach and enjoying some fish and chips," he says.
As part of the planned nationwide events, the Auckland Fish Market will provide visitors the opportunity to experience "all the pleasures of New Zealand seafood" with food markets, restaurants, cafes, an Auckland wine tasting experience, behind the scenes tours and the largest seafood cooking school in New Zealand. Located at Wynyard Quarter within easy walking and cycling distance from the Auckland Viaduct, it will bring the entire Auckland waterfront together during the Rugby World Cup 2011 tournament.
"We export about $1.4 billion worth of New Zealand's finest all around the world every year. But we want to make sure there's enough to go around so we set strict limits on what we take. That's worked so well that we're known internationally as one of the world's greenest fisheries. That's good, because when something tastes this good you want to make sure it's around for a long time to come," says Peter Bodeker.