Visakhapatnam: At a time when soaring vegetable prices are increasingly blowing a hole in the budgets of households, some unpopular varieties of sea fish, which normally replace vegetables in the summer, have also turned much dearer this season due to a low catch.
The steep increase in the prices of the summer varieties of seafood in Vizag has left a bitter taste in the mouths of citizens. The low fish catch is the main reason for the steep hike in the prices of summer fish, said M. Srinath, a fisherman.
According to sources, the popular varieties of seafood, such as Silver Pompano, locally known as Chanduva, Vanjaram and Konam (small and big seer) and some varieties of prawn, had not been available at the Fishing Harbour and other open markets since April 15.
While the fishing ban (or Conservation Period) on the coast, in place from April 15 to June 14, prohibits mechanised and motorised boats from entering the sea for deep sea fishing, traditional fishermen, using catamarans, have been going out to sea, their catch consisting of mainly snapper and mackerel and a small quantity of seer fish, and the unpopular varieties, such as Gulivindalu, Tanagadatalu, Para and few others, during the summer months.
A resident of MVP Colony in Vizag city, P Ramesh, said that 1 kg of small fish took care of his six-member family's lunch, but this could not be said of vegetables. But the small fish have become costlier this summer, their prices reaching Rs 120 to Rs 150 a kg from Rs 60-a-kg last summer.
“The unpopular varieties of fish usually replace costly vegetables in our diet in the summer. But this time, the pattern has been reversed as the vegetables are somehow cheaper than the summer fish, and we have had to accordingly cut down consumption of seafood,” says R. Anuradha, a homemaker.
