Love seafood? Get ready to pay more for it in Mumbai

Seafood lovers may have to shell out more at Mumbai restaurants now after fishermen stopped going out to sea because of the heavy rain over the past week, which caused a 50% drop in catch

Seafood lovers may have to shell out more at restaurants now after fishermen have stopped going out to sea because of the heavy rain over the past week.

Fishermen said that as per tradition they started fishing after Narali Poornima, which is right after the Ganesh visarjan. But, ever since that day, the weather has been bad. “This is breeding season, but we are unable to catch fish as they have gone into deep waters. Moreover, fishermen from neighbouring states, too, are coming here to catch fish which has made matters worse,” said a fisherman from Worli.

On an average, when the weather is good, fishermen in Mumbai catch around 500 tonnes of fish every day. This catch is from Sassoon Dock, Bhaucha dhakka or Ferry Wharf, Worli village, Versova village, Madh island and Gorai.

“The quantum of fish caught in the last few days has dropped by more than 50 per cent. There is need for the state government to seriously look into this as fishermen are forced to tie their boats along the coast and merely wait for the weather to become normal,” said Vijay Worlikar, vice-chairman, National Association of Fishermen for Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa.

Meanwhile, restaurant owners and chefs agree that prices of fish have skyrocketed in the last few days. “The prices have gone up by 25-30 per cent. The fishermen have been advised to wait until the sea calms down and so until then we expect prices to be on the higher side,” said Meldan D’Cunha, chef and restaurateur, Soul Fry.

Bhaskar Salian, co-owner, Fountain Inn in Fort, said, “The prices of fish have gone up but customers don’t mind as they know the reason,” said VK Rajeev, IMD (Mumbai Director), said, “The heavy rain and this weather are expected to remain this way for at least the next two days.

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