PASIR MAS: The northeast monsoon, especially when floods occur, is a bane for many on the East Coast, but at the same time, overflowing rivers also bring along a bountiful of freshwater fish, and none are happier than the traders who sell them.
Along Jalan Pasir Mas-Rantau Panjang here, makeshift stalls have sprung up to cater to the strong demand for these fish, or ‘ikan darat’ as the locals call them, as they can only be found in abundance during the monsoon season.
Trader Mohamad Naim Sulaiman, 32, said he has been enjoying brisk sales the past few days. Helping him out are two of his friends, Hakimi Ab Rahman, 41, dan AziI Zaid, 28, as the trio try to cope with freshwater fish lovers making a beeline for their stall.
“I started trading three days ago by obtaining various types of freshwater fish in bulk from some of the locals here who use fishing rods, nets and traps for their catch,” he said when met at Kampung Gaung here today.
Checks by Bernama reveal that some of the freshwater species available were such as puyu (climbing perch), ‘baung’, patin (silver catfish) and lampam (tinfoil barb).
“Every day, I am able to sell more than 100 kilogrammes of fish. The most popular is the catfish, which is sold for between RM35 to RM40 per kilogramme,“ he said.
One of his customers, Noorhayati Abdul Hamid, 35, said she eagerly waits for the monsoon season as it is an opportunity to feast on her favourite freshwater fish at reasonable prices.
“The fish are fresh and are sumptuous when fried or cooked ‘asam pedas’ style.
“I’ve been frequenting this stall in the past few days as there various types to choose from. This only happens during the monsoon season,” she said. -Bernama