Food firms unfazed by docked boats

Food firms unfazed by docked boats

No seafood shortage but some prices rise

Fresh fish is available at Saphan Soong market in Lat Phrao area. Some vendors are worried over possible low supply that may push up fish prices. PATIPAT JANTHONG
Fresh fish is available at Saphan Soong market in Lat Phrao area. Some vendors are worried over possible low supply that may push up fish prices. PATIPAT JANTHONG

Leading food service operators see minimal impact from the suspension of fishing by some trawlers because they are able to acquire seafood from other sources.

Japanese restaurant chain Oishi Group says it will not have any negative impact because it has many suppliers.

"More importantly, we purchase seafood products in advance at a large volume that can be used for as long as one year in order to avert any business risk, as many big companies do," said Paisarn Aowsathaporn, executive vice-president for the food division at Oishi Group, which is owned by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's Thai Beverage Plc.

He said most of the salmon served at its restaurants was imported, mainly from Chile and Norway, while the prawn came from local farms.

About 3,000 out of 57,000 fishing boats are unable to comply with a new licensing law enacted since Wednesday following demands by the European Union for Thailand to crack down on all illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by October.

Despite having two months to adjust to the new law, operators of 3,000 trawlers said they could not comply and some decided to halt operations.

Prices of seafood in some markets have been rising for fear of a shortage.

Suvaphan Malila, head of the Commerce Ministry's Samut Sakhon provincial office, told the Bangkok Post after surveying several major seafood markets that there was no seafood shortage in the area at this stage.

However, prices of some types of seafood have risen by 20-25% due largely to the protest by boat operators that have stopped fishing.

"Some kinds of deep-sea fish are missing and prices are rising, but there is no shortage and no complaints because consumers have switched to other kinds of freshwater fish," Mr Suvaphan said.

Consumers said rising prices were still acceptable because they were lower than those caused by supply shortages in the monsoon season.

Mr Suvaphan said price rises should be short-lived because higher prices should encourage boats to start fishing again. "The market mechanism will bring us the right solution eventually," he said.

Pornsil Patchrintanakul, president of the Thai Feed Mill Association, said the industry had yet to feel the pinch from trawlers staying in port.

"As far as we have been monitoring, the general prices of fish meal move in a range averaging 30 baht per kilogramme," he said.

"The situation is not as drastic as feared. Half the raw materials we use for fish meal production in Thailand are imported."

Somkiat Triratpan, director of the Commerce Ministry's Office of Trade Policy and Strategy, said seafood made up 0.41% of the goods basket used to calculate inflation, so its effect on inflation was insignificant.

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