Visakhapatnam: The continuous southwest monsoon lashing the state including Vizag for almost a week has not only damaged the city roads but also affected the dry fish business.
Being a wholesale hub for about 15 varieties of marine dry fish, the dry fish market at Vizag fishing harbour adjacent to Visakhapatnam port is getting fewer customers.
According to Visakhapatnam fishermen's youth welfare association secretary Arjili Das, the business has fallen by about 30-40 per cent due to the wet weather conditions and the prices have also come down due to the fall in demand.
"Around 300 dried fish sellers in Vizag fishing harbour used to sell around three tonnes of fish a day when the weather was good, but now the sale has come down to one tonne," he told DC.
An interaction with some dried fish wholesalers and retailers in the harbour revealed that business has slowed. Dry fish vendor Mylapilli Srinu said due to lack of sunlight for the past few days, the fish stocks are getting spoiled.
Dealers said that usually fish is stored and preserved in shops for upto two months. After that, the product is mostly used for animal consumption.
“The only option to clear the product is that we have to sell it at a lower price. Here, the minimum price for a kilo of dried fish ranges from Rs 50 to a maximum of Rs 500," said Gangamma, another seller.
Vizag’s Maharanipeta mandal where the fishing harbour is located recorded 174.5 mm of rainfall against its seasonal average of 150.5 mm. On Monday too, about 5 mm of rain was recorded and the weather was wet throughout the day.
