Senoko Fishery Port: Fish overdose

Well before dawn, I visited the Senoko Fishery Port for the first time. And got an overdose of fish!

This is where some of our fishes arrive and are distributed to our supermarkets and markets.


On one side of the market place were many large trucks. From their markings, they look like they came in from Johor and Malaysia. They look like they were done delivering fish as many of them were being washed down.

At the jetty there were a few small craft and I saw tall masts of about two or three larger vessels. Some seem to be taking water.

This is the side of the market nearer the jetty. There were large containers labelled "Kuantan". This side was busy with forklifts and people hauling fishes onto smaller trucks probably for distribution in Singapore.

There was a large truck with slabs of ice and a machine to crunch the slabs into smaller pieces.

In the middle is a large, bustling market place.

The fishes, many of them very large, were expertly and efficiently cleaned and prepared for sale.

By the time the rest of the team arrived at 5am, the market seemed to be quietening down. Only a few stalls still had baskets of fishes for sale.

A strange array of fishes!

Baskets of small rabbitfish, squid, pomfrets and really small fishes.

There were all kinds of large fishes like baraccuda, reef fishes and flatfishes.

More reef fishes.

Squids and scallops.

Lots of sotong (squid), prawns.

Huge piles of Flower crabs.

Guitar sharks!

This appears to be chopped up guitar sharks.

Some humungous fish. I have no idea what it is.

I was looking and couldn't find the bin centre for trash disposal. There were some small containers for trash here and there.

At 6am, the market was closing down and some sort of cleaning up started to happen.

More about the Senoko Fishery Port

According to the AVA website: The Senoko Fishery Port began operations in September 1997 and was constructed to replace the former Punggol Fishing Port. The port is home base for the local fishing fleet of 4 off-shore and 35 in-shore fishing vessels. The facilities available include a 180 metre-long jetty, a fish wholesale market, shops, canteen and office units for the convenience of the fishing community, as well as a computerised water-batching system for the dispensing of potable water to fishing vessels. There are 25 AVA-licensed fish merchants based at the Port, handling about 15,000 tonnes of fish per year. About half of this comprises supply landed by local fish trawlers, in-shore vessels, kelongs and fish farms, while the rest of the fish are imported. The Port's fish wholesale market houses 36 market lots of 40 sq metres each. The business transactions take place daily from 0200 hrs to 0600 hrs, except on Monday mornings when the market is closed. Some 700 to 1,000 fish retailers, fish processors and institutional buyers come daily to purchase fish.

How to visit the Port: Bring your IC to exchange for a pass to enter the Port. While I was there, I saw a family with a child in arms visiting. As well as a machik in her best clothes, accompanied by pachik. And several foreign workers leaving with large bags of fish. So I think ordinary people do visit the Port. There is ample parking (cash card) at the Port. I arrived at 4am and things seemed to be getting quiet. So to catch the market at its peak, probably best to arrive earlier. I also heard that the Jurong Fishery Port is much bigger and even more happening!