Fish prices have soared in recent weeks in China after trucks headed for Beijing and Shanghai from southerly Guangdong Province became stranded on roads in snow-bound central China.
Television stations in Henan, Hunan and Anhui provinces have shown tanks of dead fish, the effect of day-long traffic jams leaving them without fresh supplies of oxygen or water.
Warmer provinces like Guangdong supply popular freshwater fish like Mandarin (Sinperca chuatsi) to China’s colder north, but tank gate prices have soared in recent weeks, according to Foshan TV, a channel in the heart of Guangdong’s aquaculture region. Its news show reported average farm-gate prices rising from CNY 27 to 29 (USD 4.27 to 4.58, EUR 3.44 to 3.69) per 500 grams from the beginning of December to the first week of January – a rise attributed to a shortage of large live fish for markets in northern regions.
Higher logistics costs are driving prices further up in Beijing, where this week Mandarin fish prices at the Jingshen wholesale fish market topped CNY 36 (USD 5.69, EUR 4.58) per 500 grams.
Fresh fish remains a staple of the Chinese seafood trade, but rising prices have created space for an increased influx of chilled and frozen supply, particularly in regions served by major ports (Beijing is served by the Tianjin port, an hour’s drive away).
