Our Story
About ISP
ISP Fish Market
Seafood IS our story
Fishing is Our Passion, Seafood is Our Story, and Bringing You the Best Our Australian Oceans Have to Offer is Our Purpose.
Before ISP Fish Market there was just a fisherman and the catch of his life.
Ever the avid angler, David McAtamney lived the life of a seafaring man, fishing to support his family and away from home for long stretches of time.
After more than two decades as a full-time commercial fisherman, he anchored his boat in Cairns to be closer to his family and gathered the best fishermen in the region to start Independent Seafood Producers Pty Ltd, or ISP Fish Market as it’s commonly known today. That was in 1984.
Now, almost 40 years on, ISP has grown to be one of the biggest independent suppliers of seafood in the region and is still collaborating with the best local fishermen in the game.
Only now it’s often the children and the grandchildren of the original shareholders who haul the fresh seafood, supplying hundreds of local, national, and international restaurants and fish markets, as well as direct-to-customer retail sales.
While David’s son Shawn now oversees the day-to-day operations, David is still very much an integral part of ISP’s continuing success, and David’s wife, Jo, continues to run the accounts department.
In an industry where family is everything, ISP is proud to be supported by a network of fishermen and their families who have been here since the beginning, bringing fresh seafood direct from our Australian oceans to your family’s kitchen.
David’s Story
A FAMILY AFFAIR
For some of us, fishing is in our blood. It’s all we think about, talk about – it’s what we live for.
From a young age, ISP Fish Market founder David McAtamney would spend most spare moments with a line in the water. By day he worked in a bank, and, by night, he could be found on a fishing wharf catching and selling fish for both love and profit.
His parents helped him buy his first boat, Starmist II, at age 23, and a commercial fisherman was born. It was October 1973 and he had found his calling.
Without knowing it, David had started something good that would, in time, blossom into something great. 50 years on and he can still be found on the back deck of a fishing vessel from time to time teaching the younger generation his trade.
ISP Fish Market
Shawn’s Story
The first-born son to a life-long fisherman, it was inevitable that Shawn McAtamney would grow up with a rod in his hands and a love of the ocean to rival his father’s.
By age seven, Shawn would spend school holidays out on the Ajax II, arriving by seaplane to join the crew and learn the way of the fisherman.
Fast forward three decades and Shawn is just as integral to the Queensland fishing industry as his father was before him.
Together they are the heart and soul of ISP.
ISP Fish Market
Meet our Fishermen
At ISP, our fishermen are our family. They are the men and women on the water most months of the year, working tirelessly to keep fresh seafood on our Aussie tables.
It’s their dedication to this industry and their commitment to sustainable fishing that ensures our oceans will continue to prosper and provide.
Just as fishing is their future, the ocean and its generous bounty is ours and yours. If respected, we truly believe our oceans will be the food of tomorrow and will continue to provide a sustainable, delicious, and nutrient-rich food source for generations to come.
ISP Fish Market
Meet Our Land Crew
It takes a village to bring our ocean’s bounty from the boat to the dinner plate and we couldn’t do it without the hard work and dedication of our team on the ground.
Operating out of our state-of-the-art, purpose-built, Safe Food Queensland Accredited facility, our land crews process frozen, fresh, live, and dried seafood for export, as well as supply to local and international restaurants and fish markets and, of course, to stock our very own ISP Fish Market Retail Shopfront – The Fisherman’s Kitchen.
