Fish price hike: ‘Kuwaiti model’ adopted to stir

Campaign to boycott purchasing fish from local markets

Manama

Taking a cue from Kuwaiti consumers, a group of Bahrainis have launched a campaign to boycott purchasing fish from local markets owing to current the rise in fish prices. The move is seemed to be a bid to apply pressure on fish traders and reduce the soaring prices.

Under the slogan of “let it rot”, Bahrainis have swarmed social media networks, calling to boycott fish markets until prices were reduced and suggesting other alternatives.

In Kuwait, consumers had adopted the same campaign earlier this week against rising fish prices. According to Kuwaiti press, the price of one kilogram of fish exceeded the price of an oil barrel. It was also reported that the campaign contributed in reducing prices of some species of fish by KWD 7 (BD8.7) in one day.

However, Bahraini fish traders said, “It’s not the same case here in Bahrain.” “Bahraini fish is the cheapest compared with the markets in fellow GCC states.”

 A Bahraini trader in Manama Central Fish Market, Mirza Abdulla, said the campaign was “uncalled for and people are overreacting.”

“I have been in the market for the past 40 years. It has been always like this during this time of the year. Because of the rising temperatures, fewer sailors enter the sea and the fish usually stay in deep water to escape the heat, making it difficult to be caught,” Mirza said.

He explained: “It’s a simple equation. With less supplies and more demand, it’s common that prices would increase.”

 Focus on shrimp

On the other side of the market, another Bahraini trader, Abu Mohammed said, “Sailors don’t enter the sea during this time of the year. They bear more expenses than making any profit. However, everything will come back to normal within a week or two, once the temperatures start dropping.”

“We focus now on selling shrimp as it’s easier to catch and highly demanded in the market,” he added.

Asian vendor Mohammed Azeeruddin said he’s only trading in crustaceans such as prawns, crabs and crayfish during this time of the year, as “fish is not profitable at all.”  

It was noticed that the flow in market was generally normal. But lesser fish was displayed and was piling up in some of the shops at the market.

Prices were common among most vendors, who sell shrimp for BD1.5-BD3.5 per kilo, depending on the size. As for fish prices, they varied between BD2.5-BD4.5 for some species.