Storm sends fish prices soaring

Prices shot up as fishermen were barred from venturing into coastal waters following Cyclone Phet.

The price of hammour, sherry fish and other varieties soared at Sharjah fish market yesterday.

SHARJAH // Fish prices in Sharjah have in some cases tripled after fishermen were barred from coastal waters following Cyclone Phet. Last week's storm, which lashed the East Coast, killed at least a dozen people in Oman. Thousands of people both here and in Pakistan had to be evacuated from their homes, and authorities banned fishing in some areas bordering Oman, including Kalba, Fujairah and Ras al Khaimah.

The ban was still in place as of Sunday night. "The closure of fishing in the cyclone-hit areas has directly affected the fish supply and anyone who has been in the fish market and came out empty handed would understand this," said Omran al Shamsi, the chairman of the Sharjah Co-operative Society for Fishermen. On average, more than half the fish in Sharjah markets comes from Kalba, he said. On Friday and Saturday the prices of some fish tripled, said Ihsan Khan, a vendor at the Fish Market.

"It was hard to get hammour here," he said. "Only three vendors had it and were selling it at exorbitant prices. We also don't know where they got it." Al Qabab fish, which normally sells for Dh4 a kilogram, was fetching Dh13 a kilogram. Prices of other common fish species also soared, with sherry fish being sold at Dh30 per kilogram from Dh15, hammour at Dh50 from Dh35kg and kanaad at Dh40kg from Dh20kg.

The ban on fishing did not necessarily mean there was no damage to the fleet. Sulaiman al Khadim, the president of the fishermen's association in Fujairah, said boat owners were waiting for authorities to allow them to return to the sea to start counting their losses. "Some of the fishermen left their fish and boats at sea when the alarm was made that the cyclone was coming [and] until now they don't know what is the fate of their boats," he said.

While many residents who had gone to the fish market on the weekend were shocked by the prices, some said they knew the problem was temporary. "Safety is more important than fish," said Mohammed Waseel, a Syrian shopping at the market on Saturday. "We understand the sea is not safe for the fishermen now and we can sacrifice fish for other dishes for some time." Though fishermen were still not be allowed to access the Kalba waters, some fishermen had devised other means to stabilise the supply by Sunday, bringing in seafood from Umm al Qawain and other areas to make up for the shortfall.

While some expected prices to return to normal soon, others worried that the scarcity would continue through the summer when catches decline in size. "Even when the weather settles it's doubtful how much fish will be returning to Kalba [because] this is summer period and the cyclone was a stabbing a wound," said Mohammed Abdullah, a fisherman in Kalba. His pessimism was shared by Mohammed Hamisi, another Emirati fisherman in Kalba, who said he was thinking of finding another part-time job to help him get through the summer.

"June is always a last month to make money in summer, all other months like July and August are dull," he said. "Now that June is also spoilt, I don't know what I'm going to do." @Email:[e-mail]