DOHA: A significant fall in price of kingfish is being expected in next few days as the ban on catching this particular species of fish is set to expire today.
Owing to two-month long ban on catching kingfish through nets by fishermen, the price of this specific kind had soared to QR65 per kg at Doha Central Market while it was being sold at QR75 at various other outlets.
“Price of kingfish had increased to QR65 per kg for small and average sizes (about 5kg) and QR35 for very big ones (about 10kg) because of the ban”, a trader at Central Market told The Peninsula yesterday.
“The price will witness a steep fall within few days as ban on catching is going to expire. I am pretty sure the prices of kingfish will touch QR20 and QR18 per kg”, said the trader.
“With sufficient supply of kingfish in the market after lapse of ban, the prices of other fish like hamour, safi and shahri will also fall down”, said another trader.
“Price of Hamour fish, the all-time-favourite for citizens, also increased to QR60 per kg for small and average pieces and QR50 for very big ones. Safi fish hunted in Al Shamal water was available at QR45 per kg at the Central Market yesterday while safi from other waters was being sold at QR25 per keg. Safi from Al Shamal water is known for its good quality and better taste therefore it is relatively expensive than the ones caught from other waters.”
“Shahri is popular with many expatriate communities because it’s affordable, being sold at QR8 per kg for small ones and QR13 for big ones,” said the trader.
The Fisheries Resources Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment announces every year a temporary ban on catching kana’ad (a species of kingfish) for two months from August 15 until October 15.
The ban was imposed as part of the Ministry’s commitment to preserve the country’s marine wealth and comply with the GCC Agricultural Committee’s unified decision to ban fishing kana’ad.
This is the mating season for kingfish, which is also known as king mackerel. So the idea behind the ban is to preserve the stocks of kingfish and let its numbers grow.
Catching kingfish is allowed only by hooks and hand-line during the ban period.
