(click for larger picture)
Dihua Street merchant, Mr Kai Lin knows Calmex brand abalone (from California-Mexico) is the top class.
Current Taipei price per can NT$ 2250 – which might just be a new record high.
Elsewhere a package of two cans of Calmex , plus fish roe (center) and dried scallops was priced at NT $6000
Years ago I was a professional abalone diver. We were paid a tiny fraction for the catch.
Today, one abalone in a can sells close to US$75 whereas the same one abalone probably earned me seventy five cents.
Supply and demand. Less abs available today. And a regulated and heavily policed industry.
A thought: Maybe the fish roe is Australian mullet? Every year fishermen target mullet just before they have had a chance to spawn – then we wonder why there are less fish the following year.
One would have to ask why Australian fisheries departments don’t give this point some extra consideration? Maybe they do and are considerate of the fisherman’s financial plight.
