Fish sales usually increase up to 50% in the Holy Week, say fishermen from Manaus Moderna

Selling fish at Manaus Moderna, in Manaus (AM). (Ricardo Oliveira/Cenarium)

Bruno Pacheco – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – A Christian tradition that shows the devotion of Catholics during Holy Week, eating fish instead of red meat increases the demand and the sale of fish in up to 50% in the Port of Manaus Moderna, in the center of the capital, according to fishermen. Consuming the food in this period is linked to fasting and abstinence practiced by religious people during Lent, a 40-day period that precedes Easter, a festival that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Chimbinha Cardoso, 56 years old, has been a fisherman and fish seller for 42 years (Ricardo Oliveira/Cenarium)

Chimbinha Cardoso, 56, is a fisherman and fish seller for 42 years in Manaus. On Wednesday, 13, he told CENARIUM that he waits every year for Lent to sell fish in Holy Week. In 2022, after two weeks of intense fishing, Chimbinha brought to sell 50 river tambaquis, 2 thousand jaraquis, one thousand matrinxãs, besides pacu, curimatã and sulamba.

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“It takes two weeks to fish this much. And with this crisis, it is going well. During Easter Week I usually sell more. Today I sell 50 tambaquis and tomorrow, when the demand really increases, I sell 100. That is, more or less 50% more sales”, said Chimbinha Cardoso.

For the self-employed Gustavo Felipe, 27, and his wife, the nurse Jéssica Fernandes, 29, eating fish during the Holy Week is a tradition that cannot be missing in their family. The couple is Catholic and remembers that not eating red meat during Lent is a sign of respect for “Jesus’ bloodshed”.

Eating fish during Holy Week is a Christian tradition (Ricardo Oliveira/Cenarium)

“My family is Catholic and this teaching has been passed down from generation to generation. Eating fish during Holy Week is a sign of respect for the blood shed by Jesus Christ. Fish represents life and we usually abstain from meat, especially on Good Friday. Something that can’t be missing in our family”, said the independent contractor.

Tambaqui

A tambaqui of 8kg in the Modern Manaus Fair comes, on average, for the price of R$ 50 to R$ 60. Consumers and merchants from the capital of Amazonas usually buy in the region because of the value that comes out to be more affordable. In the case of resale, the fish is sold by larger amounts in trade.

Fish consumption usually increases during Holy Week (Ricardo Oliveira/Cenarium)

Marcus Antônio, who has been working with fish for 20 years, buys fish from the so-called “pleasure boats” to sell in canoes at the city’s port. According to the salesman, during the Holy Week the prices start to rise as a consequence of the high demand of consumers.

“I have been working with buying and reselling for 20 years. Here the fish is cheaper because we buy a lot. During the Holy Week, the fish are more expensive because many people come to buy. From Maundy Thursday on, is when the port begins to fill up and the sales increase”, Marcus Antônio emphasized.

Fish at the fair

From this Wednesday, 13, the Agency for Sustainable Development (ADS) holds the special Fish Market of the Holy Week. The event, which runs until Friday, 15, in the North, South and Center-South of Manaus, offers fish from local fish farming.

The initiative is held in the Urban Social Center (CSU) of Parque 10, South-Central zone; in the Padre Pedro Vignola Family Living Center, in Cidade Nova, North zone; and the Cultural Center Amazon Peoples (former Suframa Rotatory), in Crespo neighborhood, South zone.

According to ADS, the fair will run from 6am to 6pm on April 13 and 14. Already on the holiday of Passion Friday, 15, the fairs will operate from 6am to 12pm. The consumer can find fish from R$ 8.90 per kilo.

Traders will be selling fresh tambaqui curumim type, fresh tambaqui over 5kg, whole matrinxã of 1kg and over 1kg, fresh pirarucu carcass type, pirarucu filet, pirarucu belly type, pirarucu mixed type, pirarucu salted, dry pirarucu, pirarucu salted dry mixed type and pirarucu salted fresh loin.

In 2021, the Feirão do Pescado special Holy Week moved about R$ 1 million in fish and products at the fairs, according to ADS. More than 100 producers and fishermen from the Amazon municipalities benefited directly. According to the agency, the goal is to generate revenue for traders R$ 1.5 million in the three days of fairs this year.

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