This has been bugging me for a long time. Why is fish more expensive than other proteins, like steak or veal. I have been buying flounder and shrimp for $14 a pound, which is $3 per pound above the cost of my rib eye steaks. Well, I had to snoop around online and satisfy my curiosity. I was happy to find there are reasons for the higher cost.
Apparently, fish still has to be hunted. Fishermen have to go out to sea and catch the fish. They can’t be grown on farms, like domestic animals, specifically for consumption. Different types of fish come from various places around the world. It cannot be stored for long periods of time, it has to be transported quickly and kept cold. If not properly transported it can and will spoil easily.
Basically, that’s the bottom line. It takes a lot more to catch fish and transport it to markets and buyers from many different locations. So while the ocean is full of fish and you may live near the Ocean, you aren’t going to get any breaks in the price of the fish. You always hear how fish is good for you, it great for diets and has no cholesterol, and some fish has that Omega-3 oil that is great for you.
The only problem is, to eat fish on a regular basis, you have to be rich, or go buy yourself a fishing pole and GO FISH!
Yes. It is right that the fish have to be fished for; but it is not the poor fisherman who gets the whopper increase in cost. It is the retailers who are still buying the fish at almost the same price as 10 years ago; but the "sharks" are the retailers who have marked up massively before selling to the consumers. Not fair.
ReplyDeleteOk, you have to catch the fish. But, unlike other animals, you don't have to feed it, don't have to build shelter for it, don't have to do other things which domestic animals require. I agree with previous comment, and also with the article bottomline- you have to work your ass off to eat a fish... :(
ReplyDeleteThis is such non-sense. I wonder how Chinese are providing us with almost all of our frozen fish, most of which is farm raised fish, even ocean dwelling fish. Now question, why cant we do the same thing here? Because it wouldn't be too profitable. Because our companies would rather have Chinese do the work and put difference in the pocket. I amazed when i see an enormous variety of fresh chilled fish out on markets in Europe, in cities no where near close to the sea or ocean.
ReplyDeleteJust as expensive here in the UK, I just don't buy it, can't afford to. Steak is cheaper! We lived in Australia and fish was even more expensive there!
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