the goan I network
MARGAO
The new fishing season began on August 1, but fish-loving Goans who headed to the markets on Thursday hoping to lay their hands on the much sought after Goan mackerel returned home a disappointed lot.
Both the wholesale fish market and the retail fish markets witnessed fish scarcity and fish, especially mackerels, being sold at a premium.
Many a fish-loving Goan, who headed to the wholesale fish market and the retail fish market on Thursday on expectation that fresh fish netted by the traditional fishermen and mechanised boats would inundate the markets, returned home disappointed. If the new fishing season began on a dull note for the mechanised owners with hardly any catch of the solar shrimp or other varieties of fish, customers had to resigned to their fate in the markets.
The much sought after mackerels were sold at a premium. One could get just three or four mackerels for Rs 100, simply beyond the means of the common man. While the better off were seen laying their hands on the mackerels, disappointment was writ large on the faces of many others, who could not afford the fish.
In fact, one question that did the rounds in the wholesale and the retail market was simple “where’s all the fresh fish gone”, without realisation that fishing vessels had returned yesterday with either Korbott (mixed fish) or small quantities of the solar shrimp and mackerels.
President of the Margao retail fish Association, Felix Gonsalves conceded that mackerels were not available in the market in large quantities on Thursday, creating scarcity and price rise. “Most of the customers who came the SGPDA retail fish market were looking for mackerels. Mackerels commanded a huge value because of short supply of the fish”, Felix added.
He said that the supply of fish will stabilize in the coming days as the season will take off with more and more vessels venturing out in the sea. “Some of the fishing boats are yet to venture out for fishing due to lack of manpower. Then, they had the problem of unloading and other issues at the Cutbona fishing jetty’, remarked a retail fish
vendor.
Goa’s lone wholesale fish market at Margao and the retail fish markets across the state had seen scarcity of fish after the government banned import of all fish from across the borders after fish laced with formalin tested positive at the wholesale fish market over a fortnight ago.
Following the formalin scare, most of the people stayed away from markets as a matter of abundant caution since local supply of fish was restricted given the 61-day ban on mechanised fishing which ended on July 31 night.
