ALTHOUGH catches have increased by 25% since the beginning of this month, prices of certain fishes in the peninsula still rose due to higher demand, Chia Tian Hee said.

The Fish Industry General Association president said the price of the Indian mackerel, more popularly known as ikan kembung, had slightly increased due to the high demand.

He said the catch for the fish was still low.

The price of siakap also rose unexpectedly from RM15 to RM19 per kg, he said.

He said the prices of fishes and other seafood in general from the beginning of the year till May was high due to the monsoon period, which prevented fishermen from going out to sea.

But since last month, Chia said the weather was generally calm and fishermen had begun going out to sea.

Chia said while the catches might have increased, other factors like the shortage of fishermen, boat crew and the depreciation of the ringgit have kept prices up.

He said nonetheless, seafood remained affordable for most consumers.

Chia said the fishing season normally starts in May but due to unusual weather patterns, fishermen could not go out to sea due to the waves and those who went out and encountered inclement weather were forced to return empty.

That, he said, had resulted in heavy losses for boat owners.

“In May, the number of fishing days was only 12. Fishermen lost a lot of money.

“Last month, we could go out without any problem and the number of fishing days was up to 20.”

Chia said in view of that, seafood production in May was down by half, resulting in higher prices.

He said government intervention, particularly in approving the hiring of more foreign workers as fishermen, could help reduce, if not stabilise, prices.

Kuala Lumpur Maritime Association President Xin Jianjia told The Malaysian Insight the prices of imported fishes went up 10% to 15% due to the depreciation of the ringgit.

And that, Xin said, had affected the consumption capacity of seafood.

“Wholesalers usually imported 1,000kg of seafood, but now it has been reduced to 500kg or 600kg.”

Xin said the price of farmed freshwater fish also rose, albeit slightly, due to the rising cost of their feed.

Longsheng Group’s seafood restaurants, which began serving farmed freshwater fish after reopening, are having a supply problem, and this has kept the price of farmed fish up.

One popular species in high demand in restaurants is the Brown-marbled grouper.

The group’s managing director, Shi Wenkang, said most seafood restaurants have resorted to adding farmed fish to their menu because of the low supply of sea fishes up to May.

Like everything else, Shi said the pandemic was the root cause of the fish shortage.

“Freshwater fishermen dare not breed the fish in large numbers due to uncertainties stemming from the pandemic.”

He said after they reopened, there was an unexpected surge in demand. By then, it was too late to do anything.

Shi said he believed supply would return to normal only in August or September. – July 8, 2022.