Different types of fish on display in a stall at Al Wakra Fish Market
However, prices are always subject to bargaining and mutual agreement between the seller and the buyer, and the sellers stress that they often sell their fish for prices lower than that specified by the municipality.
Mohamed Munir, a seller at the market, said that more supply of fish is often available during the winter, which normally lowers the retail prices due to the good catch on daily basis, which is not the case in hot summer months. For instance, Hamour fish is sold according to the size, and starts from QR25 to QR41 per kg, but the prices double in the summer and shoots up to QR70-80 per kg, and the same applies to other varieties of fish.
Mohamed Kuri, a fish auctioneer at the market, said that prices change daily and are mainly governed by the law of supply and demand. He pointed out that currently the market has large quantities of various types of fish, which caused the retail prices to drop considerably compared to the previous period.
Yousef Abu Hassan, a consumer, said that the prices are lower than the previous period as more supply of fish are on display. He stressed that this encourages customers to buy more.
Dr AbuOkla Alsamani, from the health control section at Al Wakra Municipality, said that the process of examining fish starts at dawn daily to ensure they are fit for human consumption. Then, the daily auction on fish starts and subsequently the retail sellers are allowed into the market. He said that the process of examining fish is done all day round at the various shops in the market and fish unfit for human consumption destroyed.
