Yukoners feeling bite of high fish prices
Statistics Canada says price of food has increased across the board in 2016
Retailers and consumers in Whitehorse are adjusting to a global rise in the cost of seafood.
The Consumer Price Index, tabled by Statistics Canada, says the cost of fish in Canada has increased by almost five per cent this year alone — three times the increase seen in other types of food.
"We are seeing definitely an increase in the price of seafood. From the fishing boats and also a few products we buy from distributors," says Harry Reitze.
Reitze runs the Haines Packing Company. The company imports about $500,000 worth of seafood across the US-Canada border every year to sell in its Whitehorse store.
Reitze estimates prices have risen between five and 10 per cent in the last two years.
For an importing company like Haines Packing one constant worry is the Canadian dollar.
"We've seen it close to par and we've seen it like it is now, which is really hard for business when you bring a $10 product into Canada and have to sell it at $13 just to break even," he says.
Whitehorse restaurant changes menu
At least one restaurant is changing its menu because of the hike.
Restaurateur Antoinette Green-Oliph used to serve a sizzling halibut dish called the Halibut T&T, prepared in the fashion of Trinidad & Tobago.
"It was the signature dish for quite a while but I had to take it off because it was so expensive. What I'd have to charge to make any kind of profit was something I knew my guests wouldn't want. So halibut is no longer on our menu," she says.
