Townsville’s Tobin Fish Tales has scooped the pool to be named Australia’s best fish and chips in a national award program.
Member for Townsville Scott Stewart said the business, run by Andrew and Renae Tobin, showed that Queensland was the home of the nation’s best seafood.
“More than 40,000 people voted in the Australian Fish and Chips Awards before judges scoured the country to put the finalists to the test,” Mr Stewart said.
“I am so proud it was a Townsville business that did Queensland proud and put our seafood on the national stage.
“Renae and Andrew don’t just sell fish and chips. Both of them have PhDs in fisheries and Andrew is a commercial fisher with more than 20 years experience.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the win was a feature in the cap of Queensland’s seafood industry.
“When we encourage Queenslanders to #eatqld and get behind Queensland produce, it is top-quality seafood like this that we are talking about,” Mr Furner said.
“I have enjoyed Tobin’s seafood on a number of occasions, including when Parliament sat in Townsville last month, and I can assure every Australian that it is worth the trip.
“When we support Queensland produce, including through award-winning businesses like Tobin’s, we support Queensland jobs.”
Awards spokesman Peter Horvat said one of the key principles of the awards was to help educate consumers about seafood, the industry that supplies it and to help other fish and chippers improve what they do.
“The Tobin’s whole philosophy is what we hope all stores will aim to do,” Mr Horvat said.
“Obviously not everyone is going to get a PhD in fisheries science, but they can always improve on how they do things. The shop won the best fish and chips award because they got the basics right.”
