The fish availability in the local markets has been hit heavily in the last few days as adverse weather conditions took a heavy toll on the fishing activities in the waters around Qatar.
Veteran fishermen told Gulf Times that strong winds that lashed across the country's coast seemed to have affected fishing using both baskets as well as nets.
"So strong were the winds that many baskets, placed mainly in zones known for heavy catch, suffered damage and it had a negative effect on activities," said a veteran fisherman.
Owing to heavy winds in the offshore areas, fishing using traditional nets too had an adverse effect, inquiries found.
In addition, a number of fishermen stayed away from the sea because of the holidays. Though some of the boats berthed along the shores sailed out for fishing starting from late in the evening on Sunday, it would take at least two more days know how good are the conditions, said another elder fisherman from Wakrah.
The shortage in the availability has also resulted in higher prices for most of the varieties in demand in the local market. At retail outlets, king fish, hamour and subeidi have become dearer than a week ago, it is learnt.
On Monday, even the wholesale price of hamour exceeded QR70/kg and king fish too hit QR40/kg and above.
Until a few days before the Eid, both the varieties were available in adequate quantities, according to traders.
