CHENNAI: Fish markets across the city have been hit badly, as the prices of fish have been on the rise for the past one week, leading to a dip in sales and revenue. This price rise is because of the low catch of fish, as rough seas have kept fishermen from venturing out too far.
Prices of some fish have risen by `300 while others like mackerel have seen a whopping `700 rise, per basket, “This is the price in Kasimedu, which is the main hub for fish trading business in Chennai,” said Balaraman, boats maintenance manager at a private firm in Kasimedu.
He further added that the prices remained the same in Chindadripet, Saidapet, Vanagaram and Kavangarai, Redhills fish markets where fish from other States land.
Speaking to City Express, V Amulu, a fish trader at Vyasarpadi market, said that the fishermen had been getting less catch for the past one week. So, prices had shot up. They were having a difficult time in buying and selling the fish, he said. “Even we buy a basket spending thousands of rupees. The people are hesitant to buy it because of the price rise. We had to convince them explaining our problems.
There has not been much crowd in the market for the past one week,” he added. K Bharathi, president, South India Fishermen Welfare Association, said that the fishermen were having a tough time venturing into deep waters to get good catch because of the strong breeze. “This is the season when these kinds of trouble are common. It will take some time for the sea to become normal,” he added.
The rise has pushed consumers to take a step back from buying the healthiest fish around. N Raj Kumar, a resident of Thiru-vika Nagar, said that the fishermen in the market were selling double the rate of what they had purchased from Kasimedu.
“I went to a fish market on Sunday to buy seer fish, which cost `800 a kg. I had to buy it because my children prefer only this variety. Prices of mackerel is nominal, only big fish varieties are expensive,” he added. Some others are going further to ensure they get their weekly hit of fish curry.
Rachel Jesudasan, a homemaker, said that she went to Maduravoyal to get some cheaper fish for her Sunday special. “Everything in the shops is hiked up, but this week, prices rose by `150 or so, that is why we went out of the way to get some fish at a decent rate.” Prices are expected to stabilise in the next two weeks, when wind conditions improve.