Kerala: Fish, chicken traders cash in on bird flu scare

ALAPPUZHA: With the bird flu outbreak devastating the duck business, the freshwater fish sale in Kuttanad is now gaining momentum. Alappuzha - Changanassery (AC) Road, which was the nerve centre of duck sellers till a couple of weeks ago, is now crowded with freshwater fish vendors. At least 100 fish vendors line up the 30-km road through the heart of Kuttanad on an average. Saji of Thottappally who has been selling freshwater fish here over a decade now feels happy about the boom. He hopes the Christmas-New Year season would propel business further if the present situation continues.

"We receive more orders from houseboats either as duck curry is off their menu,” he says. They sell pearl spot fish at Rs 350-400 per kg and others at Rs 250-300. Their main consumers are motorists from Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts. On special occasions, they get surprise discounts as well. “The demand has gone up as the season is round the corner. I am selling double these days than usual," says Santosh, another vendor.

"I don’t know how many days this surge in demand would prevail. Most of the vendors are outsiders. They arrive here to take advantage of the panic situation.”
They say the outsiders are playing spoilsport on them. The temporary stalls always make the fish dearer. Thampi from Pallathuruthy who sells fish here for over two decades says he sticks on the quality of products sold at reasonable prices even when demand shoots up.  He gets fresh items from farms every day.

He spends at least six hours a day here. Meanwhile, the broiler chicken market also has seen a fresh momentum as a result of bird flu after the ban on movement of duck products. The rates vary day by day. Shihab Rasheed, a broiler chicken vendor from Thalavady, says the price of chicken shot up two days ago to Rs 180 per kg. However, it came down on Monday to Rs 150.