Sunday, July 06, 2008 Buyers warned vs. middlemen in buying fish
MIDDLEMEN are suspected of taking advantage of the fish scare, due to the mv Princess of the Stars tragedy, by having very low asking prices, yet selling fish to retailers at almost triple the amount.
Cebu City Market Administrator Raquel Arce said that monitoring of public markets showed that fish and other seafood are still being sold at considerably high prices.
But, she said, middlemen buying from wholesalers at the Pasil Fish Market buy fish at low prices, citing the supposed public avoidance of fish due to the sinking of the mv Princess of the Stars.
Safe
Authorities, though, have declared that fish in Cebu, particularly those bought in Pasil, come from neighboring provinces and from Mindanao, particularly Zamboanga City.
People have refrained from consuming fish for fear they might have eaten on the remains of the victims of mv Princess of the Stars’ sinking.
And while the market authority acknowledges that such could be a factor, Arce said middlemen might also be trying to shortchange the wholesalers.
“Fish are still expensive in the market. We’ll check if middlemen are taking advantage of the situation,” she said.
Arce said the middlemen’s asking price of anduhaw fish, for example is around P1,100 per banyera (large fish containers), or roughly around P35 per kilo. But anduhaw sold by retailers in the markets, especially in the province, are still over P100, she said.
Low demand
And the number of customers has dwindled, Arce said, which the dealers attributed to the sinking of the mv Princess of the Stars off Sibuyan Island in Romblon last June 21.
To help the fish dealers, Cebu City councilors will eat lunch at the Pasil Fish Port wholesalers’ section tomorrow to show to the public that eating fish is safe.
They will be joined by Acting Mayor Michael Rama, who led Market Authority officials in eating fish for the same purpose last Thursday.
With him were City Health Department Head Fe Cabugao and City Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries Assistant Head Alfredo Galaroza. (RHM)
