Fishmongers and consumers trade charges as sales drop

Ras Al Khaimah: Traders at the Ras Al Khaimah fish market have voiced concerns over the falling number of customers ahead of Eid Al Adha, but residents claim traders are engaging in "price fixing".

Traders said diminishing sales at the market have seriously affected their earnings, stifling plans for celebrating Eid Al Adha.

Rashid Abdul Rahman, an Emirati fish stall owner at the market, said they have never experienced such low turn-out of customers in the past despite prices of fish being low.

Abdul Rahman said normally during Eid Al Adha sales at the market go down a little as people prefer livestock to fish. But demand picks up once the celebrations are over.

"Now traders are ending up with huge quantities of unsold fish at the end of the day," Abdul Rahman said, adding that authorities need to step in to help the traders.

He asserted that there were more buyers when the prices were very high a few months ago due to a shortage of fish, but now the situation is far too grim for the traders.

Noor Hula, an Indian fish trader, said he was dismayed by the number of customers. Hula stressed that there are no customers in the market and that this cannot be explained as it has never happened before. He felt that the problem had nothing to do with Eid Al Adha.

Shafiq, another Indian trader, said fish prices have gone down by at least 25 per cent but that has not helped in attracting customers.

However, customers complain that the fish prices are unusually high despite an abundance in supply.

Not monitored

But Shafiq said the fish prices are usually decided at the auctions conducted outside the market. He added that these auctions are not monitored by the authorities but municipal inspectors oversee the trades in the market.

Shafiq said the fish prices are dependent on the auction prices and unless the auctions are monitored there is no way to control the prices.

Hassan Sultan, an Emirati customer, said the high fish prices cannot be justified. He said he was a regular customer at the market and the prices were still very high for the season when there was adequate supply of fish.

He added that the weather is fine and the fish are very close to the shore and can easily be caught. He stressed that huge quantities of fish are available in the market.

He said fish traders are controlling the market and have a secret agreement on the prices.

Mohammad Abdul Gani, another Emirati customer, said when traders control the prices this is what the customers get. He said he felt that there was price fixing by the traders.

Have you noticed this in other fish markets in the UAE? Where do you buy fish from? What makes this your first choice?