CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Why are ocean shrimps so cheap?

Due to the impact of the epidemic, people are afraid to eat imported shrimps or freshwater farmed shrimps, which has led to the cheapness of ocean shrimps.

Prawns are not only delicious but also a very nutritious tonic. They are rich in calcium and various trace elements, and the protein content is also very high. They are especially suitable for the elderly and children to replenish their bodies. There are generally two types of prawns on the market, fresh live shrimps and frozen shrimps. Whether they are live shrimps or frozen shrimps, you must be careful when buying shrimps. Look carefully before buying. There are 4 types of shrimps that you should not buy, especially the fourth type. Don't buy it no matter how cheap it is.

The first type: Don’t buy shrimps whose whiskers and legs fall off when you touch them

Fresh prawns have legs, antennae and bodies that are tightly connected. Even frozen shrimp will remain like this after thawing. However, if the legs and antennae fall off easily with a light touch, do not buy such shrimps, as they are generally those that have been stored for a long time or have been thawed multiple times.

Second type: Don’t buy prawns that feel sticky

Even freshly thawed prawns should feel dry and not sticky to the touch. If you come across prawns that feel very sticky, do not buy them. Even if the vendor says they are very sticky, do not buy them. Do not believe that you can just wash them at home. Such prawns have been stored for a long time and have gone bad. For the sake of your family's health, do not buy this kind of prawns.

The third type: Don’t buy prawns with strange smells

Smell it when you buy shrimps. Fresh shrimps should not have a faint fishy smell. If they smell strange or smell bad, do not buy them. These are usually stale shrimps that have been processed and sold.

The fourth type: Don’t buy prawns with black heads

This is the most important one. If you see that the head of the prawns has turned black, you should not buy such prawns. Such prawns have been stored for a long time and are no longer fresh. Or the growth environment of the prawns is not good, causing the heavy metal content in the prawns to exceed the standard. So everyone must remember, do not buy such prawns.

Because fewer people are buying shrimps. The COVID-19 pandemic is also a factor. When there are more shrimps, they are cheaper.

Sea shrimp and river shrimp are both nutritious and delicious, but their prices are affected by many external factors. As for the deliciousness and nutrition of shrimp, there is not much difference. If you like to eat them, you don't have to be picky about whether they are river shrimp or sea shrimp. At the same time, when choosing, you should first pay attention to whether the shrimp shell is hard and shiny, whether the shrimp head and shell are tightly attached to the shrimp body, hard and firm, and whether there is any peeling; in addition, you should also pay attention to the firmness and elasticity of the shrimp meat.

It’s not cheap. For example, big lobsters cost several hundred yuan per pound, which is very expensive.

Zhanjiang is located on the Leizhou Peninsula at the southernmost tip of mainland China. Its coastline is 1,556 kilometers long, accounting for about 2/5 of Guangdong's coastline and 1/10 of the country's coastline, the largest in the province. It has 1.487 million mu of marine tidal flats, accounting for 48% of the province, the largest in the province. Zhanjiang's fishery and aquaculture industries are very developed, with thousands of common fish, shrimp and crab species. Zhanjiang has the largest shrimp trading center in the country, and Zhanjiang Xiashan Aquatic Products Wholesale Market is one of the top ten aquatic product wholesale markets in the country.

If you go to any farmer's market or street stall in Zhanjiang, seafood occupies an important position and the sales volume is also very large. Buying and eating seafood has become a part of the lives of citizens. Natural or farmed seafood from Zhanjiang and its surrounding areas are sold in the Zhanjiang market as soon as possible. High-quality seafood is often in short supply and sold out in a snap. At the Fisherman's Wharf of Xiashan Aquatic Products Wholesale Market, citizens rush to buy seafood at 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. There have been incidents where citizens were hit and had their heads broken and bleeding. Later, the market management department opened a "Fisherman's Seafood Street" in the surrounding area to regulate transactions.

The "Fisherman's Seafood Street" at Xiashan Aquatic Products Wholesale Market in Zhanjiang

In the past, when life was difficult, seafood was not a good thing. It was far inferior to fat pork and rice, and was often used to feed pigs or as fertilizer. I heard from Brother Fei Niao that in the 1970s, there were a lot of seafood in the shallow sea of ​​Zhanjiang. Once, a net caught several thousand kilograms of mantis shrimp! But the people in the production team were very unhappy, because mantis shrimp had hard shells and little meat, which was troublesome to eat. Big fat fish that could fill the stomach were popular. So what to do? Can't throw it away, and don't eat it, what to do with it? Later, it was mixed with human and animal feces and buried in the sugarcane field for fertilizer, and the effect was particularly good. At that time, chemical fertilizers were expensive, and seafood was not valuable.

Now it is different. In the past, shrimps and crabs used as fertilizers in Zhanjiang rural areas are directly served in high-end banquets, selling for dozens or hundreds of yuan per catty. During the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, the price has doubled. Natural silver pomfret can be sold for more than 200 yuan per catty. Now it is the fishing moratorium, not to mention natural seafood, even farmed seafood prices are not going down.

Why is the seafood in Zhanjiang so expensive? I think it is mainly because of the shortage of supply. The seafood in Zhanjiang is not only eaten by ordinary people, but also supplied to restaurants and rural banquets. Especially in rural annual festivals, weddings and family banquets, the demand for seafood is very high. Zhanjiang people are willing to spend money on food, and a year's salary is often spent on a year's festival. There is a saying that "Zhanjiang people eat themselves into poverty", which is true.

In addition, due to the large demand for seafood in Zhanjiang, it can basically be consumed locally without the hassle of long-distance transportation. The freshness and taste of fresh seafood are definitely better than those from other places, so it has also attracted many foreign tourists to come to Zhanjiang to eat seafood. These tourists have once again increased the demand for seafood in Zhanjiang. Can the price be lowered?

Annual seafood is in short supply

In fact, there are many coastal cities across the country, and Zhanjiang is not the only one that produces a lot of seafood. Why is it that other cities, especially coastal cities in the north, have good seafood quality but are cheaper than Zhanjiang? It is also a problem of demand. The demand is not enough, and the supply exceeds the demand. I personally think there are four reasons:

First, the north is cold, and people cannot get enough calories from seafood alone, so they must consume a lot of staple food and high-fat meat. The dietary structure is different from that in Guangdong.

Second, there are few professional seafood restaurants in the north, and although there are seafood dishes, they are usually served as a side dish for meat;

Third, there are not as many banquets in rural areas in the north as in Zhanjiang, and even if there are, they are not mainly seafood;

Fourth, northerners have different consumption concepts. Compared with food, they are more willing to spend a lot of money on other things, such as clothing, travel, etc.

The total demand is low, resulting in oversupply. The seafood in the north cannot be digested locally and can only be sold to other places. In addition, the logistics in major cities in the north are well developed, so it is convenient to sell anywhere. Only in remote areas like Zhanjiang, the logistics cost of shipping to other places is high. The price is even higher when selling to other places plus the express delivery fee, so there is really no profit.

What delicious seafood is there in various parts of the north? Here are some specialties from some regions:

Jiaozhou Bay and Laizhou Bay in Shandong: Chinese shrimp, barracuda, turbot, sea cucumber, clams, octopus, etc.

Lianyungang, Qidong and Nantong in Jiangsu: shellfish, kelp, etc.

Zhoushan and Wenling in Zhejiang: hairtail, large yellow croaker, small yellow croaker, cuttlefish, pomfret, swimming crab, etc.

Zhangzhou and other places in Fujian: seaweed, abalone, large yellow croaker, flat crab, small tube, tiger prawn, tiger fish, yellowfin fish, etc.

Shandong fishermen catch big fish

Since the price of seafood in Zhanjiang is high, you don't have to eat seafood from Zhanjiang. As long as the quality is guaranteed, you can also try seafood from the north. Today I will recommend a kind of Lianyungang scallop meat that sells very well. If you want to try it, you can read the introduction below. If you are not interested, you can ignore it directly.

This deep-sea scallop meat from Lianyungang, Jiangsu, is produced at the intersection of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea, 35 meters deep, and in a natural environment. The entire production process takes only 2 hours: the live scallops caught that day are cooked, peeled, and frozen, and then put into cold storage after processing to ensure that the scallop meat is fresh and delicious. Scallop meat is high in protein and low in fat, nutritious and healthy, and delicious. It combines food, medicine, and tonic in one. This scallop meat is easy to prepare, steamed with garlic or fried with ginger and scallion, both are good dishes to go with rice.

What is tempting is the price. Without the price advantage, how can I recommend it to professional foodies like you? A total of 4 kilograms, this is only 98 yuan including shipping! Calculate it yourself, what seafood can you buy in Zhanjiang market for 98 yuan? You can compare it. It is precisely because northerners have less demand for seafood and logistics are cheap that it is sold at such a favorable price!

If you also think that the seafood prices in Zhanjiang are high, you can try this scallop meat from Lianyungang. Some Zhanjiang netizens also bought it in the comments and they all think it is cheap and good quality with a good taste. Now that the country is open, we can also look at ingredients all over China and the world to find better and more affordable goods!

Do you have anything else to say about the price of seafood in Zhanjiang? Welcome to leave a comment.