Yemen Monitor/Sana’a+Hadhramaut/Exclusive:
Refrigerated trucks loaded with fish have returned to Yemen’s coastal governorates after Saudi Arabia refused to allow their entry, according to Yemeni exporters who spoke to Yemen Monitor.
Mohamed Futini, a fish trader who has been exporting fish to Saudi Arabia for nearly 10 years, said that Saudi Arabia returned a shipment of fish worth 2 million Saudi Riyals from Al-Wadi’a border crossing.
He noted that two of his trucks returned after staying near the border for about 10 days, “hoping that the Saudis would reverse the decision.”
Another source who spoke to Yemen Monitor confirmed this, stating that he had returned his truck to Sana’a two days ago to sell it in the local market after failing to export it.
Traders in Al-Bulili fish market, district of Sana’a told Yemen Monitor that a lot of fish has already returned to Yemen, leading to a decline in its value due to increased supply.
Exporters said that over the past two years, there has been a decline in allowing fish exports to the Kingdom in order to encourage the storage of domestic production, which has led to a doubling of fish prices in the Kingdom.
However, a Yemeni government official said that the reason for rejecting the imports is that the government lacks quality control centers and oversight of fish being exported to the Kingdom, which weakens its quality.
Efforts by government officials to mediate with Saudi officials to allow the entry of fish, as happened in the past two years, have failed.
