00:13With lent now underway, many households are adding more fish to their meals.
00:18But as several fishing depots, fishermen say supply has been inconsistent.
00:23In Carinage, vendors told TV6 News that landings have been low in recent days,
00:29with prices varying widely depending on the type of fish available.
00:34Well, for the lentil season, the fish hardly come in to start with,
00:38they hardly catch in for the start of the season.
00:41And the prices and things vary.
00:43You can get from $15 to $50 and so on and so forth according to what you buy.
00:49Fishermen say the main challenge is the weather.
00:52Even when conditions appear favorable, the sea is not always calm enough for productive fishing.
00:57In Kokoreet, one fisherman described spending hours offshore with little success,
01:03noting that some days yield no catch at all.
01:06We would look for a little increase with price because, you know,
01:10the challenge with the weather, first thing first,
01:13because all of the weather, we say, well, again, the weather cool,
01:15it will be calm as, you know, as possible.
01:18But we just, whenever we get at least a calm day, you know, we will try and fight it through
01:23and go.
01:24And when we fish now, sometimes we fish on whole day for hours from 4 o'clock in the morning,
01:29we will go until daylight clear.
01:30Daylight clear, well, after 5, 6 o'clock, we start fishing.
01:34And by sometimes 12 o'clock, not even one head, sometimes one o'clock, two o'clock,
01:39and then boom, we will come and we will warn fish and come back.
01:43He explained that when only a small quantity is brought in,
01:46prices must cover fuel and operating expenses,
01:50costs that are ultimately passed along the supply chain.
01:54Nothing is happening, so, you know, it's really obvious that when we go,
01:58we hold our little two head or one head.
01:59We did look for an increase of the price that, you know,
02:02where we could try and get back the gas.
02:04And it's really obvious when we do that now,
02:06the vendor will have to sell it for a little more
02:08so that he will be able to make back his money and, you know,
02:12we will be able to get our share.
02:14In Carini, vendors reported a modest increase compared to last week,
02:18with prices climbing as availability tightens.
02:21It's gone up a little bit.
02:23Last week, we did sell a little cheaper, $25,000, $20,000.
02:26This week, it's gone up $45,000.
02:28Why is that?
02:29The supply low.
02:31He warns her that with fish becoming scarcer,
02:34consumers may have to dig a little deeper into their pockets in the coming days.
02:38He adds her that fisher folks do not necessarily benefit more
02:41during the Lenten season compared to other times of the year.
02:45It might go up more next week, again, more and more scarce, closer.
02:49Next week, it might be more scarce.
02:51It's going to go up like $50,000, $55,000 on it.
02:54Fishermen warns that if sea conditions remain challenging
02:56and the catches continue to decline,
02:59consumers could see further price adjustments in the coming weeks.
03:03They maintain that while Lenten traditionally boosts demand,
03:06it is supplied in the season that is setting the price.
03:10Charlotte Kisto, TV6 News.
03:12That's going to go up.
03:12maybe the first time,
03:12You can see a little bit of speed that has passed.
03:13You can see the Ice-Romany.
03:14You can see the ice-Romany,
03:14the ice-Romany through the ice-Romany through the ice-Romany,
03:14is a special size.
03:14You can see that there is a little bit more.
Comments