And in other news - have you bought your Good Friday fish yet? Belizeans were out in crowds today, visiting either the Barracks or the Conch Shell Bay Fish Market, hoping that all the "good snappers" weren't sold out.
And they were in luck, since vendors were working double-time to get rid of their catch.
And while the tradition of eating fish on Good Friday continues, it's not as simple as it once was. For one, the cost of fish has risen steadily over the last few years and the fisherfolk say that the high price is because of the cost of gas. But that's not their only plight - it seems there may not be as many fish in the sea as we once thought.
But that hasn't stopped this annual custom and today, our news team went hunting for fish finders. Courtney Menzies has this story:
For most Belizeans, Good Friday means tossing out that turkey and chucking that chicken because fish for "tea, dinner, tea." And Holy Thursday is the last day you can get it so fish finders flock to the different vendors. But the crowd was at the Conch Shell Bay Fish Market and that's where we got to hear of their lunch plans for tomorrow.
Fish Finder
"I come out today because I thought I wouldn't find fish, but I found... they have all different price but I found like for $4 a pound, very reasonable."
Courtney Menzies
"What kind of fish were you looking for?"
Fish Finder
"Snapper."
Courtney Menzies
"Is it a tradition that you buy fish for Good Friday?"
Fish Finder
"Yes because that's what you should use every Good Friday."
Courtney Menzies
"How you plan to cook it?"
Fish Finder
"Fry it. Anyway, sometimes, I usually make hudut or I fry it and eat bun and fish together."
Courtney Menzies
"Do you notice that the prices are high?"
Fish Finder
"Yeah, very, but you find people reasonable."
Courtney Menzies
"So you just have to look?"
Fish Finder
"Yeah, you just have to look around until you find the cheap one, and I finally found the cheap one."
Fish Finder
"I was looking for Jack Fish, but no Jack Fish is around but prices is raising on the fish, you know, every so often, from a dollar to a next dollar. Right now, the fish is at $13, but I met a Good Samaritan who gave me for $13 a pound. But they're raising it every minute, it's unbelievable."
Courtney Menzies
"So what kind of fish did you end up getting?"
Fish Finder
"I end up getting three red snapper. That's enough for me, because it's me one."
Courtney Menzies
"How you plan to cook it?"
Fish Finder
"I will make a little pot of sere."
Courtney Menzies
"Is it a tradition for you to buy fish for Easter?"
Fish Finder
"A tradition for everybody because you should eat fish for Easter."
Fish Finder
"I'm looking for snapper, like anything else that's like different, I think we got some snapper, we got some jack, and we also get some sliced fish, I don't know exactly hat kind it is but just something different."
Courtney Menzies
"What do you think of the prices of the fish?"
Fish Finder
"I mean, unfortunately it's not bad for us, you know, Americans that's coming down here or whatever, you know, we deal with it because we pay maybe $10 a pound for snapper in America so it's a deal for us."
Courtney Menzies
"$10US a pound?"
Fish Finder
"Yeah, $10US a pound, so we gonna buy like all day. So I just don't know how for the Belizeans that's here, right. I see them buying like one or two fish and things like that so maybe it's a little bit rough for them."
Courtney Menzies
"What kind of fish are you looking for this Easter?"
Fish Finder
"Red snapper, my family likes red snapper so I make sure I purchase some red snappers."
Courtney Menzies
"That's a tradition for you?"
Fish Finder
"A tradition for all of us, you too, not only me."
Courtney Menzies
"How are you planning to cook the fish?"
Fish Finder
"Well, it's how she wants to do it, when I reach home tonight, I'll know how she wants to do it."
Courtney Menzies
"What do you think about the prices out here?"
Fish Finder
"I agree with the guys, this is the best time they could make a little money, I agree with them that the price- gas gone up so I agree with the prices. If you want eat fish, better you pay the man them for their fish. They deserve it."
Courtney Menzies
"So you don't feel like they're jacking up the prices?"
Fish Finder
"No, man, how will they jack up the price and the rich people in the country are living good? Let the men make some money, man. Belize is about the people, let them make their money."
But not all Belizeans were as understanding as that fish finder - most thought that - in these hard times - the price of fish is too high. But what residents may not know is that, according to the vendors and catchers, fish is hard to find and there are plenty of days when the only thing that's biting is the pain at the pump.
Fish Vendor
"Before we set up the price of the fish, we have to catch the fish. And in times like these, the fish is so hard to catch. So technically, it's what the good lord bless you with out there, you can catch, you understand? So when you come in here at this time of the year, it's only one time of the year the fishermen get this kind of blessing, I should say, if you get the blessing from out there because everyday is fishing but not everyday is catching. So I set the $12 and the $10 a pound, if you are buying fish as a consumer and you pick all the nice fish, an extra dollar is nothing at all. When I want fish for my wife, it doesn't matter what the fish costs, I buy it, because I sell fish and I buy fish too. $10 and $12 is nothing compared to the price of gas. The $10 and the $12 can't even buy a gallon of gas, for example, remember a gallon of gas is $13. And that doesn't mean you'll catch fish, you have to know where the fish is at. And fish is not in front of Belize because in front of Belize is a burying ground. You gotta travel miles to catch fish. And you have to know where to go, and you have to know when to fish and when. Not to fish because the fish go along with the tide and the moon. So as a senior fisherman, if you don't know, you're not going to make no money, you're going to burn the gas and have to call for the SOS."
Fisherman
"We need to raise the price of fish, not that we want to do it, but because of the price of gas. And it's only in Belize that the gas is so high. IT's only in Belize because I lived in America and I have people in America, they call me and they tell me every time what the price of gas is. The highest price of gas is in Los Angeles right now and it's three dollars and change. At the end of the day, why should we be paying all this money for the price of gas and oil is coming out of our ground? I am blue, I born blue, I will live blue, I will die blue and hopefully bury blue but at the end of the day, we know that they leave us a big bill. We know we got to pay the bill but don't pressure poor people."
Based on our observation, the average price for a pound of fish is $10 - while some vendors sell smaller fish for $4 to $5.
Notably, the vendors near the Yarborough bridge were not out this year.
