With summer at its peak, the supply of fish in the markets of the Eastern Province has dropped and prices have gone up by 25 to 30 percent. According to fishermen from the Qatif and Jubail area, during the summer, the catch is comparatively low as fish migrate to deep waters in order to escape from high water temperatures. As a result of the low catch, fish prices go up in the market with many popular varieties of fish either not available or in short supply in the Kingdom. As fish are known to migrate to deeper waters in the summer, fewer fishermen go out to sea thereby further reducing the supply of fish in local markets. Ali Hussain, who is from Qatif and who has fished the waters off the coast of the Eastern Province for many years, said that fishermen usually go out to sea for four or five days at a time. The expenses for such a trip include the cost of fuel, lubricants for the boat, ice for keeping fish fresh, fishing equipment, and food and wages for the crew. Often these expenses are not covered by the quantity of fish being caught. Sometimes fishermen end up with a loss, he said. A fishing boat operator told Saudi Gazette that popular fish, such as, hamour, cheri and shahoor are hard to find during the summer. On Wednesday, hamour was selling for SR60 a kilo at the Dammam Municipal Fish Market whereas a kilo could be bought for SRw40 earlier. In addition to this, on Feb. 1 authorities ordered a six-month ban on catching shrimp during their breeding period. Shrimp boats cannot venture into the sea during the ban period which will continue until July 31. The shrimp season will start in the Kingdom on Aug. 1 and there will be a reduction in the price. Currently, one kilo of shrimp sells in the Dammam fish market for between SR25 to SR35 depending on the size.
