Prices of abalone set to increase up to 10% this CNY

AsiaOne 4 Jan 16;

SINGAPORE - More restaurants in Singapore are selling abalone in place of raw fish amid current freshwater fish scares.

A report by Shin Min Daily News stated that this comes after the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore and National Environment Agency banned freshwater fish from ready-to-eat raw fish dishes.

With Chinese New Year just a month away, many restaurants have also decided to make this switch in order not to lose their customers.

This move will see prices of abalone increase from 5 to 10 per cent as compared to last year's figures, according to Mr Cai, chairman of Victoria Wholesale Centre.

Mr Cai added that the sale of canned abalone, especially those imported from Australia, has gone down by 5 to 10 per cent when compared with last year.

On the contrary, a representative from wholesaler Wang Li Xing, Mr Chen, told Shin Min that prices of canned abalone have risen from 10 to 12 percent during this Chinese New Year season.

He added that another dish that can be used to replace raw fish is shark's fin.