Blog

In 1973, George and Jill Mure travelled from London to Tasmania, where they opened Mures Fish House in a
small Victorian cottage at the heart of Hobart’s historic Battery Point. To source quality, fresh, local
seafood, George went fishing. Spending three days a week at sea catching fish for his customers and
three days in the restaurant running double shifts, George began their hook-to-plate philosophy.

They pioneered Australia’s first commercial mussel farm at Margate, Tasmania, and developed the Blue
Eye Trevalla fishery into a year-round operation, cementing this species as a local favourite. In 1987, at
the site of retired apple sheds on Victoria Dock in Hobart, George and Jill designed, built and opened
Mures Fish Centre.

Today, 46 years on, Will and Jude Mure are the Directors and current driving force behind Mures
Tasmania. The company now incorporates:
• 3 seafood restaurants
o Mures Upper Deck – fully licensed a la carte restaurant
o Mures Lower Deck – family style licensed seafood bistro, café and fishmongers
o Pearl + Co – waterfront oyster bar and restaurant
• 2 fishmonger outlets
• 23-metre custom-built fishing vessel, Diana, named after Will’s grandmother
• Processing factory and wholesale division in Cambridge, Tasmania
• Mures Gourmet Seafood Product range
• Exclusive George Mure wine range
• Mures Fish School – educational program for primary schools on the importance of
sustainability and oceanic welfare

Mures Tasmania continues the traditions and ethos created by George and Jill, and the following
generations have embraced continual growth and diversification. They still catch the freshest fish to serve in
their restaurants, and currently through their wholesale division, supply nearly 300 retailers, distributors, and
restaurants. They remain a fully vertically integrated, Tasmanian family business, offering sustainable, local,
seafood from hook-to-plate.

Go into Mures Fish Centre at any time of the week and you will find the family working alongside their
staff. Regardless of what area of the business they are in on the day, their passion for the ocean and for
Tasmania is ever strong and is a positive influence on the entire Mures team.

Will and Jude
Will skippered the previous Mures fishing vessel, Kiella, for over 10 years, supplying their restaurants with
fresh, local seafood. During this time, he passionately worked with the Australian Fisheries Management
Authority (AFMA) and assisted in the development of practices for more efficient, sustainable management
of Australian fish resources. He is currently an industry member of the South East Management Advisory
Committee which provides management advice directly to AFMA from local fisheries.

Currently based at Mures Fish Centre on Victoria Dock, Will and his wife Jude are directly involved with
the day to day management of the business. They continue to develop sustainable practices and support
the work being done within the seafood industry, endeavouring to find others with the same passion to
work with Mures and become ambassadors of the industry in their own rights.

Will and Jude individually meet with potential employees to ensure they are the right fit for the business,
and by doing so have built a team of individuals who feel that Mures is more than just their job, but instead
are a group of people undertaking an investment into Tasmania’s future.

Eve, Wilson and Jock
They are the third generation of Mures to be involved in the business and have recently started to take
their place within the Mures enterprise. Along with Business Support Officer, Jaimee Routledge, they host
the current Mures Fish School program, an educational program which teaches students from Prep to
Grade 6 the importance of caring for the ocean through the reduction of plastics and careful fishing
practices.

Eve has also worked closely with local schools, organising tours of their facility in Cambridge to teach
students about the family’s hook-to-plate philosophy, fish handling, process and storage methods. She
also works on the floor in all three restaurants as required. Eve continues the family tradition of arranging
Mures home grown flowers to beautify the restaurants.

Wilson is currently the manager of the Fishmongers division in Mures Lower Deck. In conjunction with this
role, he has developed a newsletter for regular patrons to keep them informed on the movement and
current catch of the Diana, along with any upcoming specials and events within the business.
Jock is heavily involved in all operational aspects of the business, from the processing division right
through to retail. He is passionate about making the family’s wealth of knowledge accessible to the
general public and has hosted several free demonstrations at local festivals and events, alongside Mures
Upper Deck Head Chef, Markella Koutalidi. Their presentations discuss the importance of sustainable
fishing practices, the unique infrastructure of the business, and provide an educational fish preparation
and cooking show.

“We pride ourselves on achieving high levels of business excellence and industry recognition.
This year we are thrilled to have been named the winner of the Primary Producer, Large Enterprising
Business and Industry Ambassador Awards at the 2019 Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council Awards for
Excellence. At the same event we were also presented the Australian Fish & Chips Judges Choice Award
for Tasmania, placing us among the best retailers Australia wide,” Will said.

“Mures Tasmania has also been named finalist in the prestigious Tasmanian Tourism Awards on our first
year of entering. With the winner announcements happening 8th of November, we hope that this will be a
great platform from which we can continue to develop our business and further our work in industry
education and environmental awareness.”

“As Directors of Mures Tasmania, we love so much about our job. Surrounded by fabulous staff and family
who really care and share the same values and passion that we do is a key. The fishing, tourism and
hospitality sectors are busy, exciting and dynamic industries that fill our lives with great challenges,
inspiration and joy,” Will and Jude said.

“We tackle this daily with a super group of people – all aiming for the pursuit of being and giving the best
we can to all that is Mures. Tasmania has such outstanding products and it is our task to care for, to
capture and process, highlight and beautifully present this for visitors and locals alike. We are proud that we do this with transparency and a focus on sustainability. We love that part of our job is to ensure there is seafood for the future.”

“Working in the seafood industry seems to be constantly challenging, there is always something different
going on. We are lucky that in our business this attracts hard working, passionate, like- minded people. I
love working with these people daily especially as I am lucky enough that this includes my whole family, Jock said.

According to Will and Jude Mure, their vision is for a well-managed, transparent and sustainably healthy industry.
One that consumers understand, respect and trust. Seafood pride, appreciation and the seafood industry worker’s wellbeing would reflect this.

Adds Jock Mure, “We have long been advocates of sustainability and it is great to see this passion in fisheries throughout Australia. As an industry we need to be proud of products we are providing. We strive to instil trust in
consumers that they have an advantage when buying local seafood products in terms of quality,
sustainability and supporting fellow Australians.”

What’s next for Mures?

Mures is more than just restaurants, but an established role within the community. Their recent
achievements and industry recognition have inspired them to promote and drive harder the areas they are
passionate about. Our involvement with AMFA is as committed as ever, and we continue to collaborate
with them on the further development of fishing industry practices.

Mures Fish School continues to grow and, with increasing interest from more educational providers, they
are looking into developing lesson plans for grades 7 – 12 and beyond.

For their sustainability mission, they have already removed all non-compostable, single use plastics from
Mures Fish Centre and process all cardboard and glass waste generated by the business on site. Their goal is to extend this practice to their food waste, to further reduce (and eventually eliminate) their landfill footprint.

With five Mure family members now working within the business, they are very excited and confident about
the future and continue to take their public education about the fishing industry further, and champion
sustainability and industry initiatives.