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Santhosh Chandran
Doha
Even a month after of its opening, Umm Salal Fish Market is yet to see any improvement in customer footfall, much to the discomfort of the vendors.
Fish vendors say they are unable to exhaust their stocks on a daily basis due to lack of customers, which forces them to keep off the daily auctions.
However, vendors' loss seems to be hypermarkets' gain. Taking advantage of the situation, the hypermarkets are buying fish at throwaway prices and selling them at much higher rates.
"Despite a sharp decline in auction price of fish, there are few takers at the market. Sherry fish auctioned at QR60 per 40kg last week, was left unsold at the shops even after 12 hours of sale. The same variety of sherry auctioned to a hypermarket chain at the same rate was sold for QR14 per kg through their outlets," a vendor at the market told Qatar Tribune.
"As we are struggling for survival due to the shortage of customers, we have to keep the minimum price at the auction. Earlier, we were competing with hypermarkets and exporters as they had to depend on whatever was left by the vendors at the market. Now, the vendors have no option but to withdraw from auction. We are somehow surviving on direct sales to customers," he explained.
Earlier, about 80 percent of local harvest was auctioned by the vendors and the entire quantity sold out to local customers at the market itself.
After the market was shifted to Umm Salal, the number of customers has steadily declined and most of the vendors were obliged to refrain from auction as their stock has is left unsold due to lack of customers.
However, fish lovers in Doha have not benefited from the situation.
Even though the price is far lower at the market at Umm Salal, majority of individual customers are reluctant to go to a far away market.
