Present Status of Fish Marketing in Gopalpur Upazila of Tangail District

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to observe the fish marketing chain through a number of intermediaries such as, local fish traders, paikers, wholesalers and retailers in 5 arbitrarily selected markets (Belua Bazar, Gopalpur Bazar, Nandanpur Bazar, Suti Bazar and Alamnagar Bazar) in Gopalpur upazila under Tangail district. A total of 50 traders were selected (10 from each market) for personal interview and focus group discussion. Traders typically operated with capital of around Tk.5000 to 15000/day. Among the cultured species, Rohu, Catla, and Mrigal fetched higher prices (Tk.120-250/kg) and price depends on market structure, species, quality, size and weight. It was observed that under market channel I (Fish farmer – Paikers- Wholesalers- Retailers- Consumers), fish farmer’s gross price per quintal of fish was Tk. 9000. Similarly for channel II (Fish farmer -Wholesalers- Retailers- Consumers) the price spread was Tk. 1605 per quintal of' fish, while the fish farmers gross share was 82.16% of consumers price. In case of channel III (Fish farmers-retailers- consumers) the price spread was Tk. 1087 per quintal of fish while the fish farmer’s gross sale was 87.92 %. Therefore, in term of farmer’s share, the performances of channel III was relatively, much better than those of other channels. A number of constraints during fish marketing were reported by traders including higher transport cost, poor road communication and transport facilities, poor supply of ice, and exploitation by middlemen. In spite of socio-economic constraints, most of the household’s of the traders (80%) have improved their status through fish marketing activities.