Housewives and husbands have been complaining about rising fish prices, Their purchasing power is far lower in recent years and they are forced to buy lesser or look for alternatives in their diet to meet their nutritional needs.
The price of fish and seafood from Malaysia has increased by almost 20% due to the early start of this year’s monsoon season and rising labour and fuel costs.
Due to heavy rains fisherman are more unlikely to travel out to fish which then increase the demand for fishes the supplies go down and the suppliers then charge more, red grouper used to cost around $19 a kg but the price has since risen to $24 a kg.
Adding to the cost is the manpower crunch, which means that businesses have to look elsewhere for workers. Fewer workers want to work in this industry, so they can demand higher pay. This all adds up to the cost of the fish when it reaches the end consumers.T
The Fish Farmers initiative
Mr Malcolm Ong, said the supply-driven price hikes of wild fish mean that he is seeing an earlier surge in the demand for his fish.
He added: “The monsoon affects the supply of fish because the fishermen won’t go out to sea on their boats, but this does not affect the fish in our farms. So because this supply (of wild-caught fish) is affected, customers will have to pivot towards sourcing their fish from us or buy more regularly from the supermarkets to which we supply.”
We have kept prices the same despite the greater demand, The Fish Farmer is still able to keep competitive and meet its wholesale and retail customer fish demands.
Mr Ong brought up a further, frequently overlooked issue that raises pricing over the holiday season.
“The seafood delivery drivers frequently use this time off to go back to their homes and celebrate the new year with their families,” he said. When that occurs, the supply is impacted, which raises the price of your fish.