With the 45-day annual moratorium on deep sea fishing along the east coast of the State, from Kanyakumari to Chennai, commencing on Wednesday, fish prices have touched an all-time high in the markets here.
Full impact of the ban, which is aimed at creating a conducive environment for deep sea fishes to reproduce, will be known only after four or five days of the ban. Traders in Tiruchi mainly depend on supplies from Rameswaram, Mandapam, Nagapattinam, Jegadapattinam and Muthupettai for meeting their demand. While most fish consignments are brought through trains, some wholesale merchants also bring them directly by mini trucks from fish landing centres.
Fish traders say the supply from coastal areas has already come down. As against the average arrival of 15 loads of fishes, crabs and lobsters, the fish market at Puthur received just five loads on Thursday. Similarly, supply through trains has also dropped by almost 50 per cent.
The drop in supply has had a cascading effect on the price of fishes. For instance, Vanjiram , which normally quotes at around Rs.500-Rs.600 is selling anywhere between Rs.750 and Rs.900 per kg on Thursday. The current market price of one kg of Oola is Rs.350 – Rs.100 more than its normal price. Similarly, the price of most of the fish varieties has gone up by Rs.50 to Rs.100 per kg.
The rates of crabs and lobsters have also gone up by 40 to 50 per cent.
“Fish prices are fixed based on supply and demand. Prices will rule high until the last week of May and then prices will be stabilised slowly,” says C.K.Kamal, a trader at the Puthur fish market.
