Prices of Fish Soar Due to Insufficient Catch: Read to Know

The prices of all types of fish have been on an upward spiral since the past fortnight. The reason being cited by fishermen and retailers is that a fish famine-like situation persists at sea, due to which 70% of the deep-sea trawlers are anchored at the port and only a few have been into fishing, without much success.

On the other hand, vessels have been returning with not remunerative catch. For instance, one boat went deep sea fishing for 10 days with 6,000 litres of diesel. The total fishing cost for 10 days runs up to Rs 7 lakh, including fuel, wages and other expenses. The catch is so low that they cannot even recover the cost of diesel, hence most of the trawlers are anchored at the port.

The mackerel prices were down to Rs 200 per kilo last week but since mid-Jan the price was north of Rs 250 till Sunday. The price of premium white pomfret has been Rs 1,000+ since Jan, since daily landing is less than 200 kilos.