Fish boycott campaign in Egypt's Port Said succeeds in reducing prices by 50-70%

CAIRO – 25 April 2024: The residents of Port Said, a city lying on both the western bank of the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, began on Sunday a boycott of fish to express their anger about unreasonable price hikes.

As a result, the prices dropped by 50-70 percent per kilogram. For instance, the price of tilapia fell from LE200 to LE60, that of mullet dropped from LE180 to LE70, and that of sardines went from LE120 to LE70.

Mostafa al-Safty, the man who called for the campaign, stated in a phone-in that the boycott was planned to last for just one week. But, after 11 governorates joined, it will last for two other weeks as that duration coincides with Sham El Nessim (Spring Day) where people eat fish, which is an Ancient Egyptian tradition.  

Egypt has been enduring price hikes of almost all goods and services due to both inflation and shortage in foreign currency. Although the latter got resolved around six weeks ago, the prices of most products has not gone down. With regard to fish in specific, the high prices were not reasonable because they are not imported and because of the very long Egyptian coasts on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

The current fish boycott campaign is considered the only successful boycott campaign Egypt has witnessed in decades, which rightfully qualified it to take over the internet this week with all posts, tweets, and comments cheering the move and outcome.