Fish prices have plunged at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex as a glut of catches leaves fisherfolk with more supply than demand, prompting an urgent appeal for Barbadians to come out and buy.
The appeal came from boat owner Donna Nobel on Wednesday when Barbados TODAY visited the fisheries complex. She said there are thousands of pounds of fish waiting to be sold.
Donna Nobel shows snapper fish also in excess. (Photo Credit: Lourianne Graham)
“They have a lot of amberfish available, a lot of snappers, a lot of tuna available,” she said. “We need the general public to come out and patronise us because we have so much fish and we’re trying to get rid of them.”
She said some fish prices had been reduced, with thousands of pounds of fish on ice at the complex.
“Right now fish cheap, it gone cheap now because it wasn’t much catching before when there was a lot of fishing, and you get a little bit, the price goes up but now you getting nuff, the amber fish on the boat is $6 a pound, you can’t get chicken for $6 a pound.”
Nobel explained that there is a small extra charge for cleaning, deboning and filleting the fish.
“We gotta fillet them, take out all the bones and stuff; that’s why it cost a little extra money. We buy from the boat at $6 but we sell it at $7. If you buy like two packs, you get $40 a pack, which will be $80. If you buy two pounds, it’s $16, not bad.”
“The snapper is selling at $14 a pound; you always pay an extra dollar a pound to get it cleaned and we’re also selling the tuna; if you buy 10 pounds, you get it at $10 a pound; less than 10 pounds is $11 a pound.”
Nobel also explained why flying fish prices have been going up.
“By the time he [a fisherman] goes, he goes about 500 miles to get the fish. When you go about 500 miles, you spend about $7 000 in diesel; using that and then all that food and ice is a lot. That’s why the flying fish is so high.”
Nobel said that because there are so many amberfish, many boats are not going out to catch flying fish. Amberfish are found where there is seaweed.
“If you go further where there is no seaweed, you get the flying fish.
She said the Ministry of Environment, National Beautification and Fisheries has an agreement with fisherfolk to deliver ice so that they can buy daily as needed.
Nobel said having ice available allows fisherfolk to store or freeze excess fish.
“We have a blast freezer in the back which accommodates the entire facility, then we take it out on a later day. There is a big cold storage, or there is also the cold storage by BICO.”
However, the business owner said while fish storage is not an issue, overcapacity prevents the complex from taking in more fish when boats come in, which adds extra costs.
Fisherman William Mosley. (Photo Credit: Lourianne Graham)
Fisherman William Mosley said he has to go out to sell his fish to get it off his hands: “Right now I done selling, I sell my fish at Oistins, I sell my fish all over the place just to get it done.”
(LG)
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