A new national day of recognition, recently announced by the government, has a unique significance in Dunedin.

February the 15th has been officially declared National Lamb Day.

It's intended to be a celebration of New Zealand's long history of exporting red meat.

And that's where Dunedin comes in, as the very first overseas shipment of frozen sheep meat left New Zealand from Port Chalmers.

That was on the 15th of February 133 years ago.

Lamb exports are now worth about $2.5b, with the main markets being the United Kingdom, China and the United States.