As UAE heat subsides and fish prices fall UAE traders gear up for increased work

ABU DHABI // Fish prices are expected to fall next month as the summer heat subsides after increasing by as much as 50 per cent over the past few months.

Ali Al Mansouri, president of Abu Dhabi Fishermen Cooperative Society and the UAE Fishermen Cooperative Association, acknowledged the increased prices but said they would soon start to decrease.

“Due to the summer heat the catch is very low, which has resulted in price rises. But the prices will start falling, hopefully from next month when the catch improves,” he said.

This was encouraging news for sellers at the city’s Mina Fish Market where in recent months consumers have had no choice but to pay more for the fewer fish available.

According to sellers, prices had nearly doubled for some fish such as hammour, which is generally sold in winter at Dh35 a kilogram to Dh65. Smaller ones are sold at Dh50 and Dh55 a kilogram.

Fishermen said fish were swimming deeper to escape the summer heat, making them harder to catch.

“Nowadays in a month we go to deep seas once or twice, while in winters we take four trips,” said Indian Hemant Tandle.

“Every year, for four to five months, we are idle until the heat lets up. Our catch totally depends on weather. If it’s winter and seas are calm our catch would be good. But if it’s hot and windy out, the catch will be very poor.”

Bu Hassan Al Khoury, a buyer at Mina, said: “We don’t have a choice but to buy. It happens each summer when fishermen can’t go fishing due to the heat. So we have to bear that in mind. It’s climate, nobody can do anything.”

Emirati fisherman Abdullah Mubarak said the prices depended on the size of a catch.

“Now we don’t get good fish so naturally prices will shoot up,” he said. “It happens every summer as our catch dwindles.”

He said prices had been stagnant for a couple of months.

Sherry are Dh40 a kilogram, up from Dh20, while jais are Dh45 a kilogram, up from Dh25.

Indian Obaid Thachaparamban, a seller at the market, said prices for all local fish had shot up. “In summer prices go up by 50 per cent.”

Bigger hammour are priced at Dh65 a kilo, up from Dh35 or less in winter, while zureidy was Dh45, up from Dh15, he said.

Safi is Dh35 a kilogram, while in good seasons it sells for between Dh15 and Dh20 for a kilo.

Mr Thachaparamban, who has been trading for 14 years, said the fishing regulations were another factor.

“As per the fishing rules, one local has to be with the fisherman while venturing out into the seas, but now locals avoid going in the sea with the hot weather.”

Despite the increase, sellers said prices were beginning to ease. “Last month, hammour shot up to Dh70 a kilogram but now we are selling at Dh60,” said Indian Asif Kappil, who has been selling for 10 years.

anwar@thenational.ae

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A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now

Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.

The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.

1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):

a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33

b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.

2. For those who have worked more than five years

c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.

Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.