You should start stocking seafood if you want them during CNY.
Although Chinese New Year isn’t for another 11 weeks, various fishermen’s associations around the country have recommended shoppers to begin loading up on seafood in preparation for reunion feasts.
According to The Star, Chia Choon Theng of the Sekinchan Fishermen and Fish Traders Welfare Association said that unpredictable weather is making it impossible for fishermen to go out to sea with their deep-sea trawlers on a regular basis.
Their excursions have decreased in frequency from weekly to once every two weeks or perhaps once a month. A deep-sea trawler journey normally takes five to seven days.
The silver-colored and diamond-shaped Chinese Pomfret, also known as Bawal Tambak or Dao Chong in Cantonese, is highly treasured around Chinese New Year and is becoming increasingly difficult to find, with fishermen warning that it may become scarcer in the following months.
Chinese Pomfret can only be taken when there are fast-flowing currents during the spring tides around the new and full moons, giving fishermen only about six trips before the Chinese New Year.
Small ones can now sell for RM60 per kg, while larger ones can sell for around RM80 per kg. During CNY, it can reach RM100 to RM150/kg in some areas.
Chinese Pomfret is no longer available in marketplaces. Many fishermen have contracts with restaurants, so if we capture them, they will immediately go to the restaurants. Pomfrets require a different net. They are difficult to catch, and you must wait a long time after laying out the nets.
The same thing is happening in Pahang, which has urged consumers to begin stockpiling their favourite seafood in order to avoid high prices when hazardous storms at the end of the year make fishing more difficult. Because the weather is so unpredictable right now, anyone who wants to prepare their favourite holiday foods should start stocking up now. Otherwise, tiger prawns, which currently cost roughly RM60 to RM70 per kg, could rise to RM150 or more in the future.
