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Goa: As weather patterns change, fish gets almost 25% dearer

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The prevailing cloudy conditions accompanied with greater wind speeds out at sea has made it difficult for fishermen to get a good catch. This has led to an almost 25% rise in fish prices.
“Boats have been returning with a smaller catch than usual. As a result even the number of fish trucks coming to Panaji have reduced. This has raised fish prices,” fish vendor Sachin Naik said.

Kingfish is selling at Rs 800 per kg compared to Rs 600 two days ago, while other seafood items like sardines, mackerel, prawns, crabs have seen an increase of Rs 50. “People come to the Margao wholesale fish market but many return with a smaller purchase owing to the price rise,” another fish vendor Deva Lamani said.

To tackle this shortage, vendors in the Panaji market have been sourcing fish from Malvan and Karwar. “We cannot anticipate the duration for which the high rates will prevail. Learning from previous trends of cyclonic conditions leading to dull fish catch, we have made our back up plan. However, despite that, there continues to be an overall shortage of fish,” another vendor said.

Fish eaters, however, have no option but to shell out the additional rupees or compromise by buying smaller quantities. “Weather conditions are only going to get worse as the year progresses. There needs to be a permanent solution to fish shortage by way of cage culture or prawn hatcheries. We cannot have inflation each time fishing boats face a challenge at sea,” a Porvorim-based customer said.