War, weather cause of fish scarcity in market

05/04/2026

War, weather cause of fish scarcity in market

KUWAIT CITY, April 5: The local fish market witnessed remarkable changes in the first quarter of 2026 due to seasonal factors and regional developments that affected local and imported fish supplies. In a statement to the newspaper, Hamoud Al-Hamdi, shift A supervisor at Sharq Fish Market, revealed that the total quantity of local and imported fish in the first three months of the year (January to March) reached 1,683,230 tons and 532,200 tons of which are local fish or 46 percent of the total. He said the fish supplies have been affected by the American- Iranian War that started on Feb 28.

Al-Hamdi pointed out that due to the escalation of military tensions in the region and the precautionary measures being taken, such as banning small boats from going to the sea and restricting fishing operations to larger vessels in certain areas, the local supply declined. He explained that natural factors also played a role, as the rise in water temperatures with the onset of summer contributes to the gradual decrease in fish quantities, which are expected to rise again in winter. Regarding imported fish, he disclosed that the total fish imports in the first quarter of the year reached 868,830 tons and 623,630 tons of which were imported before the war, compared to 246,200 tons after the war -- a decrease of 60.5 percent.

By Marwa Al-Bahrawi Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff