KOTA KINABALU: Buying fish can be a complicated process if consumers want value for their money.
Quality, type of fish and market location are among key considerations for consumers, but the price would still be the final stamp.
The retail prices vary, but on average from the catcher, the tag can go up three-fold by the time it reaches the consumer.
Here, the prices of popular fish types, such as basung (scad), temanung or kembung (Indian mackerel), tenggiri (Spanish mackerel), ikan putih or gerepuh (trevally), duai or bawal hitam (black pomfret) and kerisi (threadfin bream) are highest at supermarkets where supplies are in bulk.
Checks at three supermarkets in Putatan and Penampang here revealed basung, temanung and kerisi were priced from RM10 to RM13, ikan putih from RM18 to RM25, tenggiri from RM30 to RM40 and bawal hitam from RM35 to RM45.
At the central market here, the prices of the same types of fish would be about 30 per cent lower, with more variety to choose from.
Fishmonger Mohd Saira Matera said the prices of fish are determined by the weather and season, which affect the supply of certain types of fish.
Saira said most of the fish supply comes from fishing trawlers that land their fish at the Sabah Fish Marketing Authority Jetty behind the central market, where many fishmongers would get their supply at an even cheaper rate.
The Lido market, on the other hand, would be an option for consumers seeking top grade fish such as the suno (sea trout), kerapu (garoupa), tambung or jenahak (snapper) and duai putih (white pomfret), to name a few.
For those seeking cheaper options, they could travel to the Papar and Kimanis markets, south of here, where the average prices of the same types of fish would be half of
that in the supermarkets.