MUSCAT — Wholesale fish auctions have been introduced at fish markets by Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in a bid to regulate fish trading.
The new system is being applied now at eight fish markets in Qurayyat, Al Seeb, Barka, Al Rustaq, Al Tharmad, Sohar, Shinas and Sinaw.
The auctions take place from 6 am to 9 am all days of the week.
Selling fish through auctions is part of provisions of a ministerial decision regulating fish exports from the Sultanate and was prompted by a desire to provide adequate supplies to local consumers at affordable prices. Fisheries department personnel follow up activities of fishermen, deliverers, traders, handlers and cleaners in the markets.
They also register sales, take note of consumers’ observations, monitor quantities and ensure price levels are stable.
Selling fish through auctioning was an old trading system in the Sultanate and was revived first in Qurayyat when an auction office was opened at the fish market there in 2001.
