For Rosa Dávalos, 53, another homemaker who has been shopping in the district for 30 years, the district's greatest virtue is the products' freshness, because the fish does not lose its flavor or nutritional value by being frozen.

Horacio Aguilar is a distributor from the coastal town of San Ignacio, in Baja California Sur, who sells his fish in the district. He complained that more than the high prices, people do not have a culture of eating fish because they don't know its health benefits

He bemoaned the fact that fish is not a daily requirement, that people only think of eating it during Lent.

Though exact figures are hard to come by, it's believed that fish consumption in Baja California is low.

The state Department of Fish and Aquaculture has carried out campaigns in the last two years in large neighborhoods to promote eating fish as a part of a healthy diet to fight obesity, especially among children.

In the district, the average price for shrimp fluctuates between $9 and $15 per kilo (2.2 pounds); for the various types of fish fillets between $5 and $7 per kilo, while octopus costs about $4 per kilo and a dozen clams around $3.

Parallel to the fish market, just across the street, there is a series of restaurants and small mobile businesses that have taken advantage of the fresh products available in their neighborhood. They sell from the traditional shrimp cocktail to fried fish to diverse grilled and raw dishes.

All their customers have to do is close their eyes and take a deep breath, and easily imagine they are in a port instead of in the middle of an urban center.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com