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Ras Al Khaimah: Only affluent families in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah can afford to have fish in the holy month of Ramadan as fish shortage at two markets has caused fish prices to soar. For a single Iftar it will now cost an average family of five Dh 200-300 to buy fish.
According to fish traders in the emirate it is more lucrative to sell fish than gold.
"There is no fish in Ras Al Khaimah now-a-days," said Saleh Hanbalou, a senior Emirati fisherman who lost Dh 300 in petrol on a fishing trip on Thursday. All he could catch was 20 kilograms of fish.
"Only in the lucky days, a professional Emirati fisherman can come up with 100-150 kilograms of fish, and that rarely happens," he said.
A single kilogram of Hamour is sold in RAK for Dh 50, and Dh 30-40 per kilogram of the Kana'ad.
According to Hanbalou fish prices are determined by these traders and not the fishermen "The traders take at least 50 per cent from the customers," he said, adding that fishermen sell Hamour to traders for Dh 20-25 in auctions whereas Kana'ad goes for Dh 10-15.
"It is true that there are no enough quantities of fish in the fish markets in Ramadan but the attitude of the auctioneers and the traders make the bad situation even worse," he said.
The Emirati fishermen not making regular fishing trips during Ramadan has also contributed to the shortage. "Emirati fishermen either go on their fishing trips before the Iftar time or after the dawn prayers," he said, adding that maximum of 200 fishermen go on their fishing trips during Ramadan, whereas on the non-fasting days, an average of 400-500 fishermen go on fishing trips daily.
Mohammad Al Zaabi, who heads the Fisheries Section at the Northern Region Department of the Ministry of Environment and Water, said varieties of fish are available at the Ras Al Khaimah fish markets.
"Once the sea cools down after some time, fish quantities will increase. Fish which comes from the bottom of the sea just like the Hamour and the Kana'ad are in high demand and the customers here prefer them to all other type of fish," he added.
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