Fisherfolk at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex on the Princess Alice Highway were not in the same boat yesterday over whether there was a glut on the market.
On the one hand, vendor Donna Noble, of D Fish Corner, said she was overflowing from amber fish to billfish to pot fish, while other vendors and fishermen insisted this was not the case.
“The fish just keep coming in, I’ve never seen so much at this time. I don’t know why,” Noble said.
Her daughter, Shernelle Phillips, said they had 2 000 pounds of both amber fish and billfish, while tuna, red snapper, dolphin, barracuda and even lobster were also available.
However, other fisherfolk did not share the opinion that there was an overabundance of fish.
“There is no glut of nothing. Some vendors just buy up all the fish from a single boat and make it look like there’s ‘nuff’. I don’t do that because I won’t ‘trust’ [credit to pay later] nobody fish, then can’t pay,” a vendor said.
A fisherman added: “There’s no big set of fish. Them calling the media and when people get here, it’s a different story.”
Joseph Brathwaite said people were dealing with back-to-school and did not have the time or finances to buy fish, and suggested that crying “glut” was a ploy to bring people to the market.
Noble explained that she and two other vendors had taken the chance to invest in a lot of fish from the fishermen, which allowed them to sell at a cheaper rate. She considered this a glut, seeing as there was so much on offer.
“There is a glut of fish. Other vendors are not taking the risk to buy all this fish, then no one comes to buy from them, so only about three of us have all this fish. We are telling people to come and buy from us
at a reduced rate; we want everybody to come and take advantage. When the others see the crowds coming to us, they will want to buy fish from us, then sell it at a higher price,” she said, adding Oistins in Christ Church had a glut as well.
Fisherman Owen “Accra” Coppin pointed out that two long-line fishing boats had come in with tuna, but it was not anything to shout about. He said it made no sense to say the vendors were not buying fish.
“The vendors are buying or you would hear about fish dumping. I’ve been around a long time and I have seen this happen before. I really don’t believe in that foolishness – if you advertise there is all this fish, then people come and don’t find it, then it’s a problem,” he stated.
Boat owner Mark Yearwood said there was a lot of tuna, but much of it was shipped out for export. He explained that top-grade tuna was exported and the rest put for local sale, adding they had hauled in 47 tuna at 100 pounds each.
Another vendor said this was not the first time there was a cry of a glut that was carried in the media, but which turned out to be otherwise.
(CA)
REDUCE PRICES is ATL THAT MATTERS.