Dubai: It's 1am. As the city sleeps, the Deira Fish Market comes alive to the cries of traders placing buy and sell bids.
Whispers and hand signs also form part of this regular nightly drill, as the country's biggest wholesale fish market, situated on the mouth of Dubai Creek, opens for business.
Men with small notepads on which the deals of the day are jotted down, whisper their offer price to suppliers. Their entire focus is on striking a deal.
The prices these traders ultimately decide on are the prices Dubai consumers end up paying for their daily supply of fish.
Dubai Municipality now hopes to break these traders' unhealthy grip over the market by inking a deal with the Dubai Fishermen's Cooperative on March 2 to computerise wholesale fish auctions in two months' time.
Hamad Ahmad Al Rahoomi, General Manager of Dubai Fishermen's Cooperative Asso-ciation, a group representing over 560 local fishermen, said they want to introduce a fairer wholesale fish trading system.
Big loss
"We think fishermen are losing at least 40 to 50 per cent of the catch as they are forced to dispose of it at a price this group [alleged fish mafia] commands," said Al Rahoomi.
"In the last 30 years, the Deira Fish Market has been under the grip of people from the same or a few nationalities," said Al Rahoomi, while declining to go into specifics. According to him, many hawkers have labour cards stating they are fish retailers or cleaners. "It's impossible to keep track of what's going on — the daily volume of fish trade, the types of fish sold," he said.
The cooperative currently buys up to five tonnes of fish daily via auction. "Most people who sell the fish want it to be sold through auctions to get the best profit," said Omar Fazil Al Hameli, 35, one of the 20 full-time co-op buyers working from 11.30pm to 8am.
Fish is indeed big business at the market, with an estimated 1,000 tonnes of fish changing hands in these hours before dawn.
The day's catch from Dubai and neighbouring emirates, as well as Oman, Taiwan, Thailand and Spain, come in ice vans or refrigerated trucks that form a beeline around the 60-metre concrete auction bench where prices for the next day are decided.
Mohammad Shafi, 50, is a 30-year veteran in Deira's fish trade. Like most middlemen in the market, he's not just buying fish for his retail stall. By 2.30am, he has already bought more than 1,200kg of fish for his clients — big hotels, groceries and retailers at the Karama fish market.
Shafi, who employs his brother and son Shafiq, 25, is part of a network of traders the municipality thinks is behind the unnecessarily high price of fish in Dubai.
Shafi, however, remains unfazed by the planned computerised auction that would bring in 20 trained Emiratis from the cooperative (known as Jamaiya) to supervise the nightly auctions. "My customers do business with me because of my experience. They want the freshest catch and they trust me to find it for them," he said.
Organised Chaos
While most buyers see a more organised retail market during the day, the nightly wholesale market chaos has somehow evolved into something everyone has learnt to accept, but not necessarily feel happy about.
Mohammad Abdul Karim Julfar, Dubai Municipality's Assistant Director General for Corporate Support Sector, said they are unable to track the city's actual fish consumption, stating that this called for order to be brought in.
"The fish market needs more transparency — similar to that implemented in wholesale fish markets in Japan and Europe," said Julfar, who feels that a fair computerised auction system may lead to lower prices of fish.
Sceptical
While the municipality hopes to bring a semblance of order and control to the auction business, there are some who are sceptical.
Sami Karal, 23, from Pakistan, is among the few fish stall owners who speaks good English. His 55-year-old father, Abdullah, runs Stall No 162 and has seen the market grow in the last 40 years.
Karal said: "This sort of cartel does exist, but computerisation won't make the wholesale fish trade fair if those who run it will not be here. Without physical supervision at this time of the day [2.30am] it won't work."
A hawker, on condition of anonymity, said: "What will happen to us if they computerise the whole thing? More than 90 per cent of people working here do not speak English. How can they operate computers?"
Mahmoud Routar, 45, an Asian fish trader, said: "They think it [computerised auction] will help consumers, but I don't think so. This is just another way for the municipality or Jamaiya to collect a fee, which would be passed on to consumers." Routar said profit margins are so low and fish traders are lucky if they earn Dh1,200 a month after enduring the stench, odd hours and summer heat.
Under Dubai Municipality's plan, auctions will be streamlined so that no fish dealer has to wait for long to sell his fish.
Under the present system, the alleged fish mafia waits till traders are forced to sell low to avoid the fish getting spoiled.
Kunutty, 40, an Indian who buys shark for their fins which he dries and sells to buyers from the Far East for Dh150 per kg, said a computerised auction will not affect him that much. "You win some, you lose some," he said nonchalantly.
The auction
The lack of a formal wholesale auction has evolved into a situation in which little cash is involved across the fish market.
Mami Kiskeppat, 43, a Keralite fish trader, who brought in 150kg of tuna on a Wednesday morning from Khor Fakkan, left the market after selling it all, without taking any cash.
"Nobody sells fish here for cash," explains Kiskeppat, in between whispers to potential buyers. "We just issue a receipt to the middlemen with a promise that they will pay after two days."
While it works on a system of trust, the payment is sometimes stretched to seven days or more — and in some cases, never.
Karal said some traders, after building a strong credit line, have suddenly disappeared, leaving wholesalers with hundreds of thousands of dirhams or even millions worth of unpaid deliveries.
Mohammad Ali, 37, a fish wholesaler from Umm Al Quwain, said: "It happens sometimes that people who have taken huge amounts of fish on credit simply run away. But what can you do?"
Computerised Auction
Under the planned computerised auction at the Deira Fish Market, staff from the fishermen's coopera-tive will get the offer price from the buyer and deliver it to the seller written on the group's voucher.
The cooperative will collect a five per cent commission for every wholesale trade at the auctions, which shall be held daily from 1am until 8am and from 3pm until 7pm.
The cooperative will also regulate the entry of fish delivery vehicles, examine the fish with municipality inspectors (for spoilage or undersized fish) and inform the municipality in case of violations.
It shall also report daily fish prices, types of fish sold, quantities of fish caught in the emirate and the number of vehicles coming to the market from other emirates and other entities.
Getting there
The fish market is located on Al Khaleej Road near the Deira Corniche close to Shindagha Tunnel. The present fish market, opened in August 1988, superseded the original market which was demolished. Parking spaces are available, but make sure you get a parking ticket; it's one of those few places in Dubai where parking is not free on weekends and holidays.
Upside of online wholesale fish auction
- Fresher fish, the day’s catch moves faster
- Receipts will be issued for every wholesale trade
- Better monitoring of daily fish consumption
Downside
- May take away jobs of hawkers
- May shoo away wholesale fish suppliers looking for better deals
Deira fish market figures
- 1,000 tonnes: Estimated amount of fish bought and sold at Deira Fish Market daily
- 170: The number of fish stalls at the market
- 100: Estimated number of trucks delivering fish to Deira Fish Market daily (besides daily imports that come through the airport)
- 3 to 5 tonnes: the amount of fish bought by Dubai Fishermen's Cooperative daily, which is then distributed to cooperative stores and individuals
