The Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market is located at Yue Shi Cheung Road in Aberdeen. About 300 people work at the market, including market staff, fisher folk, buyers, and wholesalers. Fifty tonnes of fish are traded there each day.

Every day at 4 a.m., fisher folk work in pairs to unload trays of fish from the boats and transfer them to the centre of the market.

Others pour the fish into yellow, standard-sized plastic buckets.
The market is divided into two parts.

One side is for direct sales. A wholesaler representing the fisher folk bargains with the buyers. When they reach an agreed price, staff of the Fishing Marketing Organization weigh the fish.

The fish market charges a $5 commission for every 15 catties of fishes traded.

The other side of the market is an auction. The wholesalers first set a minimum price for the fish. Buyers then gather around the fish and yell out the price they are willing to pay.

The market charges 7 percent commission on auctions to make a profit.

Buyers identify the fish by placing nametags of their stalls in the buckets.

Most of the fisher folk are in their early 60s. Despite their age, they work hard so that the fish can be sent to markets before dawn.

Fish trading is dying out, however. Fewer people are willing to take up this tough and low paying job.

Fisher folk get up at 3 a.m. and earn just $3,000 to $4,000 per month.

Usually, the crowd in the fish market starts to leave at around 6:30 a.m. So when the streets become busy, the fish market falls into silence again.