La Nueva Viga Market

The people of the Mexico City area have also become accustomed to enjoying the bounty provided by almost all of the states, so the demand for seafood is greatest here.

[2] In the 19th century, this area was filled with drying land, with artificial islands called “chinampas” and canals, including La Viga, which linked Chalco and Xochimilco, which still had their lakes, to the lake port of San Lázaro, near the historic center of Mexico City.

[2][3] The old La Viga Market still exists and still sells mostly wholesale, but its customers are more local, such as retailers and restaurants in Mexico City.

[4] La Nueva Viga was established in the mid 1990s[5] because the demand for wholesale seafood outstripped the old traditional market’s ability to distribute.

[6] La Nueva Viga is located on Prologación Eje 6 Sur, Colonia San José Aculco, Iztapalapa .

[1] From 6 AM, when stalls open, to 6 PM, the market is filled with the shouts of merchants attracting customers, as well as the sounds of blades as mountains of fish and other seafood are gutted, chopped and otherwise prepared.

[10] There is a website dedicated to the inventory of the market, which is updated daily at [1] Lent is the busiest season for La Nueva Viga and all seafood vendors of Mexico.

[10][11] At this time, there are more than one hundred species of fish and shellfish in season, with some selling as low as twelve pesos per kilo.

[7] For this important time, federal health officials inspect this and other markets to check for contaminants such as salmonella bacteria and various parasites, in order to reassure the public that the supply is safe.

The market also has a large number of prepared food stands selling tamales, tacos, cocktails, fillets and other seafood dishes.

[1] There are also business selling knives, copper cookware, other kitchen utensils, groceries, banks and government offices.

Vendors at the market claim that some is due to competition from foreign seafood, but most is due to the lack of promotion of seafood by federal government officials, even the Comité Nacional de Fomento al Consumo de Producto Pesquero, which is tasked to do just that.

[9] Due to free trade agreements, seafood from countries such as China, Panama and Chile are appearing at the market and now account for about 10 percent of the sales.

One of the major problems is insufficient drainage, leading to bacterial build up and causing the interior to smell very strongly.