Slow fish sales

It looks like it will be a blue Christmas for the fishing industry, according to vendors who today reported unusually sluggish sales.

Several vendors at the Oistins Fisheries Complex who spoke to Barbados TODAY say there were too few buyers on the final shopping day before Christmas. Some vendors were seen cleaning and bagging fish for sale but many were quick to say the season has been mostly slow.

One vendor said a low volume catch was being brought to be cleaned and readied for sale, leading to higher prices.

“It’s not going good at all,” she said. “There is no fish to work with, and when the fish comes the numbers will be scarce, so then the price tends to go up.

“Heaviest day for us sales-wise would have been Monday. The Sunday would have been good but they closed the market on that day, so that was lost sales for us.”

Another vendor noted the season was fairly quiet when compared to previous years.

He told Barbados TODAY: “Normally we would be selling good fish around this time. We are not seeing the numbers of people coming in and buying like we would. I hoping to see some more sales before the end of the day, but right now it not looking too good.” (SB)