Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Crisis lowers demand for fish

I am told that farmers are having to sell oranges at market for less than it costs to pick them. That might seem to be good for the consumers who are able to buy cheap fruit but in the long term it spells disaster. Unable to continue, farmers either go out of business or plough up the orange groves and plant something more profitable instead. Long term this would create a shortage of fruit grown and therefore higher prices.

It is not just fruit prices that have been hit by the crisis, the fishermen in Torrevieja are feeling the pinch as well. Whilst catches have doubled in the three months since February the price paid for fish has halved.

To make matters worse demand has decreased by about fifty per cent except for sales of the so called luxury fish. Demand for whiting has kept the prices high but whilst sardine catches have increased, sales of the oily fish have dropped.

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