Fish from Lake Chapala have recorded higher prise increases than ocean-caught fish.
Tilapia, one of the most consumed local fish at Lakeside, costs up to 65 pesos each on Fridays during Lent. Photo: Jazmín Stengel.
Jazmín Stengel (Ajijic).- This year, seafood products in general increased between 10 to 15 percent during Lent (March 2 to April 14), and fish from Lake Chapala costs up to 25 pesos more per piece on Fridays.
According to merchants selling seafood products such as basa (a catfish) fillet, tilapia, and shrimp increased very little at the beginning of Lent, so most merchants kept their prices fixed, as did seafood restaurants.
In the Chapala market and downtown fish markets, the price of tilapia and basa vary between 130 and 150 pesos per kilogram. In comparison to last year, the cost averaged an increase of 20 to 30 pesos. Shrimp prices remained the same, ranging between 245 and 250 pesos per kilogram.
Lake Chapala fishermen have increased their prices considerably. Tilapia and catfish from the lake, which in 2021 ranged from 25 and 35 pesos, now range between 40 and 50 pesos.
In addition, with the beginning of the Lenten season, local sellers increased their prices by ten pesos more to take advantage of the demand for the product. As a result, a piece of tilapia or catfish can cost up to 65 pesos on Fridays, while a kilo of tilapia fillet costs around 130 pesos.
Consequently, the prices of dishes prepared with the local product did increase in street markets and small stores; and some of the inhabitants who used to eat fish on Fridays during Lent stopped doing so.
«The tradition is no longer the same, few people respect it,» commented one of the merchants. In addition to selling less fish, the merchant notices every year how customs are changing. «Now they sell meat all week long,» said a citizen who saw taco stands open even on Lenten Fridays.
On the other hand, consumers have become increasingly skeptical and no longer follow the Catholic tradition of not eating meat during Lent, as expressed by Mariana, who only stops eating meat on Fridays and now with the high prices has also stopped consuming local fish.
Consumers are advised to research the safety of fish from Lake Chapala. Fish from Lake Chapala are both farmed and caught wild as well as for sport by local fishermen. Dr. Todd Stong has studied the lake and fish for almost 2 decades and reported that fish from the lake are well below the international limit for safety. (Annual State of the Lake Report 2020, Part 1). A PMC report indicated that PCB’s and other toxins bioaccumulate in Lake Chapala fish (Bioaccumulation of PCBs and PCBs in Fish from a Tropical Lake Chapala, Mexico)
Translated by Kerry Watson
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