Choppy seas make fish pricy

A steep hike in the prices of various types of fish in the Kingdom has left a bitter taste in the mouths of those who prefer seafood.
Fish lovers in Jazan and Qatif have witnessed a sharp rise in prices which is attributed to low yields in the coastal areas due to adverse weather conditions. Deep-sea fishing is prohibited in rough, stormy weather as a precautionary measure, forcing fishermen to stay close to the shores. For a week now high winds and rain have lashed the Red Sea and Arabian Sea coastlines preventing any offshore fishing. Most of the fish now available in fish markets around the Kingdom have been imported from neighboring countries which have stabilized the market and the prices to some extent.
As the shrimp season has just started, abundant supplies of shrimp have also helped to stabilize the fish market in the Kingdom.
Although the Red Sea coast covers 79 percent of the Kingdom’s coastline, the Red Sea yields less than 50 percent of the total fish produce. The rest of the demand for fish is met by the Arabian Gulf coast in the Eastern Province.
The fish market in Qatif is considered the largest in the region and the second largest in Asia. Hence, it determines both the supply and prices of fish not only in the Kingdom but also in the region.
The fish from Qatif is supplied across the Kingdom to Riyadh and the Eastern Province. In Jeddah, most of the fish comes from the coastal areas of Jazan, Duba, Rabigh and Yanbu. Jazan is the principal supplier of fish to Jeddah.
Surprisingly, only a few weeks ago fish markets in the Kingdom were overwhelmed with large supplies from the Eastern Region’s coastal areas coupled with imports from abroad. Now with the inclement weather conditions in the Kingdom’s coastal areas, the prices of fish, which had already been unstable for the past few weeks, have suddenly peaked creating a volatile market.
Speaking by the phone, a veteran fish trading expert with nearly two decades of experience in Qatif’s central fish market, Shoukat Ali Makkadam, told Arab News that bad weather conditions have impacted fish supplies in the Kingdom. “We are closely watching weather developments. We need calm seas to go fishing,” he said.
Abdul Mannan, who has been associated with the fish trade in Jeddah for nearly 30 years, said: “Fish prices have been unstable for a week and will continue to show the same trend for a week or two.”
The prices of hamour and hareed, popular types of fish, have gone up nearly 100 percent in the last two days. Hamour, which sold at SR 25-30 per kg last week, is now being sold at SR 60 per kg.
Shour, which is commonly eaten across Saudi Arabia, is available in both coastal areas of the Arabian Sea and Red Sea. However, it is now being imported from neighboring countries and has flooded the markets of Jeddah and Dammam. As a result, there is a drop in its prices.
A top management executive in the fisheries business in Jazan, Faisal P., said weather in the Red Sea coastal area in the Southern Province is expected to be normal and prices will stabilize in Jeddah and other markets in the Kingdom.
Most customers in Jeddah prefer to have najil, a species found only in the coastal areas of the Red Sea. The prices of najil have suddenly risen by over 100 percent and the fish has almost vanished from Jeddah’s central fish market. It was priced at SR 80 per kg but is now being sold for more than SR 180. This is due to a seasonal ban on the fishing of najil by the local authorities who are seeking to enhance reproduction during the fish breeding season in Saudi territorial waters. The najil that is being sold in the open market is actually imported from Egypt.