Chinese New Year prices at Shanghai’s busiest seafood market for certain in-demand seafood rose by between 40 to 50 percent compared to the same period last year.
Hot items at the Dongfang Market in Shanghai included silver cod (sablefish), which last week sold for CNY 300 (USD 43.59, EUR 40.76) per kilogram compared to an average of CNY 200 (USD 29.06, EUR 27.17) in 2016. A perennial staple, ribbonfish was up to CNY 25 to 35 (USD 3.63 to 5.08, EUR 3.40 to 4.76) from CNY 15 to 20 (USD 2.18 to 2.91, EUR 2.03 to 2.72) per kilogram at the same period in 2016. China has reduced import taxes on ribbonfish and other species as of 1 January.
Crab, which sold last year at CNY 140 (USD 20.34, EUR 19.02) per kilogram, sold to Chinese New Year shoppers for an average CNY 200 (USD 29.06, EUR 27.17) per kilogram. Eels rose from CNY 60 (USD 8.72, EUR 8.15) per kilogram last year to CNY 75 (USD 10.90, EUR 10.19) per kilogram in the run-up to New Year ’s Day on 28 January, according to staff at the market contacted by SeafoodSource.
SeafoodSource calls to the Chaozhou seafood wholesale market in Guangdong Province revealed crab and shrimp prices rose by 10 percent to CNY 50 (USD 7.27, EUR 6.79) per 500 grams.
Staff at both markets pointed to transport – and China’s increasingly well-developed railway network – as an increasingly important factor in boosting their seafood supply, particularly given the collapse of domestic wild catch fisheries along China’s east coast due to overfishing.
