People are complaining about inadequate refrigeration facilities for fresh fish being sold on the Corniche and saying they have been sold stale fish as fresh on many occasions.

Vendors are keeping fish in big ice buckets and very often open them to display the species. Ice put in buckets is not a proper preservation method and when vendors open them, a bad odour comes from the fish that have gone bad, said Ibrahim Abdullah Al Mullah, a Qatari, who sometimes buys fish there.

He said though many citizens prefer to buy fish directly coming from the sea to those sold in supermarkets and traditional markets, there is a need to for modern refrigeration facilities to keep the catch fresh.

Another concern of the buyers on the Corniche is the absence of a shelter that could protect vendors and their fish from the direct sun light.

"During hot summer days, the ice will melt in a few minutes but the vendors will continue to sell fish for hours," said Al Mullah.

He urged authorities to also build a proper market on the Corniche like those in Al Wakra and other places where fresh fish directly from the sea is sold. [Read more on The Peninsula]