With the annual ban on deep sea fishing in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu coming into effect from April 15, the prices of fish have gone up. The ban will come to an end on May 29.
President of Kovai Fish Traders Cooperative Society (known as Ukkadam wholesale market) H.S. Bawa told The Hindu that the drop in fish supply is in the range of 50 to 65 per cent. “Usually, we sell 40-50 tonnes of fish during weekends. But this weekend, we received only about 15 tonnes,” he said.
The wholesale market receives fish from Nagapattinam, Rameswaram, Cuddalore, Chennai, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari districts in Tamil Nadu. A sizeable quantity of sea fish also comes from Kerala, followed by dam as well as sea fish from Odisha, Mumbai and Andhra Pradesh.
Now, the supply is limited to a minimum quantity which is caught using catamarans.
Mr. Bawa said that fresh water fish price has gone up by 25 per cent to 35 per cent as far as popular fresh water fish varieties such as Rohu, Catla and Tilapia are concerned.
Star hotels in the city do not seem to face shortage in supply. It is learnt that they get fish from the same vendors and are able to get a fresh supply at a price that is about 10 per cent lesser than the prevailing market price.
Executive Chef of The Residency S. Ashok Kumar said that they ensure that their customers get wide variety of fish including the exotic ones from their vendors in Kochi. “We get fish from vendors at Tuticorin and Rameswaram when the annual ban is in effect along coastal areas in Kerala,” he said.
Retailer M.H. Abbas, who is into sea fish business for 45 years, said that domestic consumers account for 75 per cent of buyers. The rest are supplied to small and medium size hotels. “These hotels regularly buy Vanjeram, prawns and Pomfret during the ban period too. We incur loss in supplying it at a lesser price, but have to do it or lose bulk customers to competitors,” he said.
Drop in fish supply is in the range of 50
to 65 per cent
