The thing about dried and preserved fish is that they are tasty when you eat them for the first time. It is fine to eat when you have nothing else to eat. And it becomes tastier when you are starving. But when you have to eat it seven days a week for every meal, the fish losses its taste. And the food starts to feel like something that is given to prisoners.
Dave who has been eating salted fish, every day, for the past week, was feeling like he was in a prison. As the world has undergone a very big change recently, the prices of basic necessities like food were at an all-time high. And as he didn't have any money, he just has to eat the food that he got.